Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1944-03-11
Negro Soldiers And The Fighting Fronts

One of the most talked about of the current issues
growing out of the bi-racal pattern prevailing generally
throughout the nation and which to growing degree is
beginning to affect the nations expressed love for Chris
democratic principals and ideals, affecting alke It's
wartime and peacetime activities is the growing demand
Negro citizens of the country that their sons be CIV
en- greater chance risk their lives upon the battle
fields of the world the degree the of 9TH
citizens of the country
That this has become major issue in the gravey i'm
portan race problem of the country may be noted by
pointing to the fact that in the Statement of War Aim
of the Negroes of the Country presented to President
Roosevelt, doing his talk with committee representing
the National Negro Newspaper Publishers Association at
its Eastern Regional meeting recently held in the Naons
Capitol this the issue brought directly to the at
enon of the President by the spokesman for the group
Giving due consideration to such an existing fact it is
only the natural aftermath that the letter of the Secretary
of War; Mr. Stmson, recently made public giving the Of
fetal reason for the failure Negro troops in combat
War Department policy considered, and rightly
by Negroes in all sections of the nation not ONLY
insult to the gallant and glorious history and tradition
of the Negro soldier in sacrifice blood and DEATH in
every conflict IN which the nation has engaged from the
first srmish the American revolution to the present
day. but, insult to the whole race
1t of little wonder then that in the wake of such
avalanche of protest and reaction on the part of the Ne
of the country that the War Secretary has set out
deny any discriminatory motives and seeks to point
out conditions ustfyng the denial to the Negro soldier
the opportunity for which he has been trained and which
he seeks Fundamentally both of patriotism and the de-
sire further substantiae his claims to be the equal Of
all in all things, regardless of race color or creed
In pointing out the low educational qualification of
the Negro soldiers being the for his not being
allowed to take his part and place the fighting fronts
of the the War Secretary also advnces the impca
ton that in the hundreds of thousands of Negro soldiers
in the Army there is not sufficient number of the
required educational qualifications needed to create
to regiments capable of service the fighting
fronts And this in spite of the fact that the of the
entire nation for the past several months has been filled
with the exploits of Marshall Tito and his bands of
educated Yugosavan partsans who having been doing
the most effective fighting against the Germans in spite
of their lack of comparable education.
However, admitting true, what the War Secretary
said about the low educational publication of the Negro
soldier it would have been fine thing for the spirit ard
morale of the Negroes of the country and would have tax
lot of the sing out of his original letter had he added
the further truth that the work of port batalons labor
bataons engineers quartemasers require not only the
highest physical qualification in but also the equally
important willingness to do long hours of hard work too
qualifications that to be found in the very highest de
gree in the American Negro soldier but yet perhaps
sufficiently exercised in other groups and that in doing
such work the Negro soldier is performing task of just
much Importance to winning the any other
soldiers.
Finally Negroes, it will pay us to keep in mind
the great Importance Of the Job being done by sons
less while demanding that they be given chance to
the fighting fronts take away the significance of
their job and give aid to those who may be interested in
discredng the effort and contribution of the Negro to-
words winning the victory.