St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1943-11-05

high stakes as the war and mems
lives are on the table. None of US
wants to aid Hitler.
After a regrettable and costly de-
lay, the army apparently has begun
to realize the necessity for some
sort of domestic program. In Sep
TENDER the Army War College
made excerpts of a clear-cut mill
tary analysis of race prejudice from
the August issue Of the highly re-
spected Infantry Journal. These
excerpts, and others from The
Journal, were supplied to officers
along with a selected reading list
of articles and books dealing with
the race problem. A few queer
books like the racist tract "The Ris-
ing Tide of Color" by Lothrop
Stoddard, were included. perhaps
through an i'll considered effort to
give a rounded picture. But on the
whole the material was excellent.
1t is also rumored that the War
Department is planning to include
courses of instruction in all army
camps presumably Illuminating
the military cost of aggressive
racism-under the direction of 1t
Commander Herbert Agar.
If passages from the Infantry
Journal article could be impressed
upon all commanding officers, and
if these would thereby stand up for
the human dignity of their troops
in uniform, Negro as well as white,
in the face of frequently wanton
aggression and brutality on the part
of civilian authorities and occa-
sionally white military police, they
would go long way toward solv-
ing the mounting problem of Negro
morale; on the home front as well
as in the army. One passage reads:
Sometimes the prejudice against
the Negroes flares up in the army.
1t is not a problem, however, in a
camp where it is well understood
that a soldier in the United States
uniform is a soldier, not a white
or Negro, Christian or Jew, rich
man or poor, but soldier, and as
such is worthy of respect.
And not everyone feels race pref
udice. There are plenty of white
men who are constantly meeting
and working with black, brown and
yellow men of brains, education,
culture and ability. These white
men know that skin color is not a
sign of inferiority or superiority,
and they tend to forget about it. .
Those white men are numerous in
Europe, South America, Asia and
Africa, where the races are mixed
up in business and politics.
In the United States we are more
used to seeing large numbers of
men with dark skins who are I'M
educated. We do not often meet
the scholars among the Chinese,
Negroes and other dark-skinned
peoples. The two oceans have in
the past prevented most of US from
becoming acquainted with the more
able and successful men of Africa
and Asia. So we keep our preju-
dices. Nowadays, with the great
American enthusiasm for the brav-
cry of our Chinese allies, this pref
udice is less than it was, but it is
still very strong.
Now, however, the American
soldier is going among people who
do not share his prejudices. These
unprejudiced white men may find
it hard to understand if he shows
antagonism toward other Ameri-
cans or our allies on account of
their color, just as the Americans
may be surprised at these more
liberal attitudes.
If, however, the American soldier
understands the basis for his own
feelings, as well as those of the men
he meets, he can avoid friction and
embarrassment to America.
And he must come to understand
and learn to respect their manners.
Only then will he realize that ma
tional differences in manners and
customs are mostly due to differ
ences of tradition, climate and re-
igion.
"a soldier in the United States
uniform is a soldier, not a white or
Negro, Christian or Jew, rich man
or poor, but soldier, and as such
is worthy of respect" Here is the
mandate of common sense, of
morality, of history, to the army
of American democracy.
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