The southern news., 1944-03-18
Secretary StimsOn
Taken To Task

NA@N AOIlH' y. I. - EreSldent
Roosevelt, as Commander-in-C Chief
of the Army and Navy was called
upon this week to oredr the aboli-
ton of segregation by race and
color in Americas fighting forces
to the end that victory may be
achieved more speedily by our
unified army, and the peace made
more secure by the oneness of
our civilian population.
The letter to the President.
signed by Roy Wilkins, acting
secretary of the NAACP, renewed
the protest against the slurs on
Negro combat troops by Secretary
Henry L. Stimson in his letter
to Congressman Hamilton Fish
and reviewed the discouraging ex-
periences of Negro combat troops
in the first World War and i'm
the present conflict.
The consensus of opinion" said
the letter, ''is that Mr.. Stimson
has reflected upon Negro civilians
and those in the armed forces,
has offered gratuitious insult to
the Negro men of a famous Chi
cago regiment, and has reflected
upon the ability and patriotism of
Negro citizens generally.
THE colored people feel this
insult from a high government of
flcial all the more keenly because
they are aware that over a period
of years extending beyonl quar-
ter of a century, there have been
deliberate policies in effect in the
War Department designed to at
tempt to justify the statements
contained in Mr.. Stimsons letter
to Mr.. Fish.
LAS you have been advised on
numerous occasions, Negro Amer
leans are most bitter about the
treatment of their men III the
armed forces. This is the number
one complaint wherever one goes.
In a resolution adopted by Negro
Democrats in a meeting in Wash
ington February 25-26, it was de
clared: We condemn without res
ervation the treatment, discrimina-
ton, and segregation of Negro
men and women in the armed
forces of the United States
AT a similar meeting of Negro
Republican workers in Chicago,
the number one recommendation
adopted was end discrimination
and segregation in the armed
forces
Numerous nom political organi-
cations of Negroes have adopted
Identical resolutions within the
past four years. Thus it cannot
be said that Negro citizens are
not unified in their resentment
against the treatment accorded
their men in the armed forces.
Mr.. Stimson avoided a direct
answer to Mr.. Fish's question as
to why, after 81 months overseas,
the famous oath Infantry is en-
gagged in stevedore work in the
South Pacific This is a veteran
Regular army regiment of pro-
fessional soldiers with a disting-
uished history as a combat unit.
Mr.. Stimson chose not to explain
why these men should be engaged
in unloading ships.
Mr.. Stimson's letter left un-
explained the fact that the day
before his letter to Mr.. Fish, the
War Department had announced
the abandonment of college train
ing programs on the ground that
all possible combat units were
| needed in the field.
In his statement that many
of the Negro units have been un-
able to master efficiently the tech
niques of modern weapons, Mr..
Stimson apparently ignored the
fact that the only Negro combat
units overseas at the time of his
letter consisted of a combat ayi-
alton squadron and certain anti
aircraft units. The American pub
lie, including Negroes, has been
under the impression that these
particular branches of the service
require the ability to master COM
pletely intricate calculations and
the most modern weapons.
'Mr. Roosevelt, the shock and
rage of American Negro citizens
at the Stimson statements cannot
be properly gauged without a re-
view of the experiences of Negro
troops in World War 1. The unit
to which he refererd, the old Sth
Illinois, made a glorious record
in World War 1 as the 37Oth In
fantry. Even so. they had to
make this record as a part of
the French Army because, accord
ing to undenied reports, their own
American commanders did not
want them as part of the Amer
lean Expeditionary Forces.
I'VE believe the record of the
War Department to date demon
strates clearly that it did have a
policy of sharply restricting the
use of Negro ground troops as
combat units. We believe it is
clearly discernible that the War
Department intended to channel
most of the Negro soldiers into
service battaions. We believe that