 In August 1924, Coolidge responded to a letter from a New York man claiming that the United States was a "white man's country" and that African-Americans should therefore not be allowed to hold elected office. Echoing his June 1924 speech at Howard University, Coolidge refuted the man's statement, saying that African-Americans were "just as truly citizens" of the United States "as are any others," and commended the service of black U.S. soldiers during World War I:
