Black Directory Archive

Forgotten Heroes

By TEDDIE WEYR

BALTIMORE - The military has made "tremendous progress" since
desegregation was begun 50 years ago, but some recent incidents raise
serious concerns about military race relations, the NAACP said
Saturday.

The NAACP chose the 50th anniversary of President Harry S. Truman's
executive order proclaiming "equality of treatment and opportunity for
all persons in the armed forces" for its review.

"Since that time, the military has been a barometer in many instances
for measuring how successful our nation, as a whole, has been in
achieving racial equality," NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said at the
group's national headquarters in Baltimore.

The review found that substantial progress has been made, but the
"vestiges of racial discrimination remain."

In its report, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People said it is seeking a partnership with the Department of Defense
to attack racial issues.

"There is much work to be done," Mfume said. "This association stands
ready to share its leadership, its resources, and its perspectives ...
and challenges the entire defense establishment to remain vigilant if
it is to solidify an image as a model institution of equal opportunity
for all Americans."

In a recent letter to Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, Mfume
said affirmative action and continued vigilance are essential to
ensure that minorities in the military are treated fairly.

"As you know, there are still areas where African Americans, Latinos
and Asians do not enjoy full equality with their contemporaries,"
Mfume wrote.

The report highlighted several incidents in recent years that raise
concerns about military race relations. It cited the 1995 slaying of a
Black couple gunned down in what prosecutors said was a skinhead
initiation rite in Fayetteville, N.C. Three white soldiers from Fort
Bragg were charged in the case.

It also cited a 1994 House Armed Services Committee report which found
that overt cases of racism and subtle forms of discrimination still
pervade some military facilities.

Mfume also reiterated a call for an independent investigation into the
military's handling of the Aberdeen Proving Ground sex scandal in
which several Black drill instructors and an officer were charged with
rape or sexual misconduct.

The NAACP has said that the Army unfairly targeted Black soldiers
based on complaints of white female recruits. The Army has denied that
race was a factor in its investigation.

The NAACP also called for an independent investigation of complaints
of racial discrimination. The report said the NAACP receives hundreds
of complaints which it refers to the Department of Defense, but "there
are no assurances that impartial, thorough and timely reviews occur."

The report found that there are too many Blacks in the military
justice system and too few Black officers. It noted the widespread
perception that Black servicemen are more severely punished than their
white counterparts.

The report also called for an independent examination of a World War
II incident in which Black seamen in 1944 were charged with mutiny,
and 258 were court-martialed and 50 imprisoned.

A 1994 review of the incident at Port Chicago, Calif., found that the
men were victims of racial prejudice but there were no grounds to
overturn the court-martials.

Mfume noted that Blacks, such as Gen. Colin Powell, have been able to
use the military to rise to the highest levels of leadership. Others
have used it as a springboard for selection to NASA's astronaut
program, but "the numbers are still disproportionately small."

Copyright 1998 The Challenge Group