The Omaha guide., 1946-10-12
OUR
GUEST
Column
Edited By VerHa p. Harris
Edited BY Verna p. Harris
MILITARY RACISM
BY Conrad Lynn

Note 20 readers:
During the war, IN conjunction
with the American Civil Liberties
Union. Attorney Conrad Lynn de-
Tended IN federal courts his bro
ther. Winifred Lynn. who chaIlen-
gcd limcrow practices OF SelectiVe
Service and the Army. Since on a
techn caiity the u. S. Supreme
Court refused to hear the case,
segregation still reigns triumphant
in the armed forces.
The wave of attacks on racial
mimurties sweeping the country
just now ear hardly be called a
moral let-down from the war fer
v0r. World War III was not fought
by Americans rs a moral crusade
in contrast to World War +. Few
declared we were fighting for To-
bic ideals. Those who did. like
Roosevelt. met with widespread
svuicism and understanding an
understanding that He was sup
posed % talk about ideals as a
function Of his office. At hest the
war ideloEy was AGAINST GER
tain principles as distinguished
from being FOR their opposites.
The armed forces command and
also ele common soldiers and
sailors. for the most part. clearly
appreciated this. With coTuen-
dable frankness the army declar-
ed itself against migrating Ne
groes into the general forces of
the nation because that would be
a social experiment. The army
was not interested in social x
~perirnents But the generals went
further. They threw off the mask
On the face ~ American demo-
c-r 1-T -r-~-led il in all its re-
pul r--~rrr~v. When Negro
and white bows from small towns
travelled together to induction
cgntrrs thew we're peremptorialy
ordered 70 SEPARATE as soon as
they had taken the oath to defend
their native land. The army may
have been figting nazism and its
race MYTHS but il was definitel,
for the segregation and humilia-
ton OF its black attachments.
During the Battle of the Bulge
when no became jitery over an
imminent German breakthrough.
Negro cooks. ON trucks. truck
drivers and laborers were co-op-
ted for the infantry and thrown
into white divisions. Admitted
they acquitted themselves corr
aEeously and skillfully. a torrent
81 pi0us rhetoric poured out Of
the Information and Education
Section Of the army. Negroes wsre
men
Immediately after the victory
ever the Axis fascism a committee
81 generals headed by General
ellen was appointed by the Chief
Of Staff % investigate the pro
biem OF Negro troops and report
The committee reported that in
tegratiou was feasible and desire
able If done In a gradual fashion.
At once the papers. including Ne
gro weekles. ran streamers. The
Army Abolishes Jim Crow. Now
the real facts are out of the bag
Recently the army put into effect
its new policy for Negro soldiers
They viii be used as jiw crow
regiments attached 70 the six field
armies
"A higher proportion Of the Off
GERS will b. Negroes in order 20
win the loyalty uf middle class Ne
Eroes. No more Negro volunteers
win De accepted IN order 70 pre-
serve the desired ratio Of blacks
20 whites.
SO the actual legal status Of Ne
Froes IN the armed forces as
brought out BY the Lynn cas- has
in no way been altered. The Uni
ted States Circuit Court of Ap-
peals was frank in declaring that
q law Of Congress in 1866 made
i'm n units a pattern for Uni
ted States forces and that this
law had not been affected by the
1910 amendment 10 the draft law
which ostensibly forhids discrim-
fnafion on account Of rae OF col
or III the selection and training
Of men for service.
How convincing must American
urotestAtinns az equality and bro
therhood sound % Indians and
Chinese and Indnnesians and Eth
louiars and Latin Americans IN
Am tire forum az the United Nations
when they contemplate this mel
mm~hnrr~ ~FtrHaffrw-