History of the American Negro in the Great World War: His Splendid Record in the Battle Zones of Europe; Including a Resume of His Past Services to his Country in the Wars of the Revolution, of 1812, the War of Rebellion, the Indian Wars on the Frontier, the Spanish-American War, and the Late Imbroglio With MexicoSweeney, William Allison
History
History of the American Negro in the Great World War: His Splendid Record in the Battle Zones of Europe; Including a Resume of His Past Services to his Country in the Wars of the Revolution, of 1812, the War of Rebellion, the Indian Wars on the Frontier, the Spanish-American War, and the Late Imbroglio With Mexico
Sweeney, William Allison
African American soldiers; African Americans -- History -- 1877-1964; World War, 1914-1918 -- Participation, African American
"Ahead are the children of the next generation. It's on, on, you
must be going. You, too, are torch-bearers of liberty. You, too,
must take your place in the search for freedom, the quest for the
Holy Grail. 'Twas for this you, the children of America were born,
were educated. Fulfill your destiny."
Morale and propaganda received more attention in the late war than they
ever did in any previous conflict. Before the end of the struggle the
subject of morale was taken up and set apart as one of the highly
specialized branches of the service. The specialists were designated as
morale officers. They had many problems to meet and much smoothing over
to do. In the army, an Americanism very soon attached to them and they
became known as "fixers."
With respect to the Negro, the section of the War Department presided
over by Emmett J. Scott was organized and conducted largely for purposes
of morale and propaganda. Much of the work was connected with good
American propaganda to counteract dangerous German propaganda.
It is now a known fact that the foe tried to lure the Negro from his
allegiance by lies and false promises even after he had gone into the
trenches. This has been attested to publicly by Dr. Robert R. Moton, the
head of Tuskegee Institute, who went abroad at the invitation of
President Wilson and Secretary Baker to ascertain the spirit of the
Negro soldiers there.
Dr. Moton was told of the German propaganda and the brazen attempts made
on members of the 92nd Division near Metz. He gave the following as a
sample:
"To the colored soldiers of the United States Army.
"Hello, boys, what are you doing over there? Fighting the Germans?
Why? Have they ever done you any harm?
"Do you enjoy the same rights as the white people do in America,
the land of freedom and democracy, or are you not rather treated
over there as second class citizens? And how about the law? Are
lynchings and the most horrible crimes connected therewith a
lawful proceeding in a democratic country?
"Now, all this is entirely different in Germany, where they do like
colored people; where they treat them as gentlemen and not as
second class citizens. They enjoy exactly the same privileges as
white men, and quite a number of colored people have fine positions
in business in Berlin and other German cities.
"Why then fight the Germans? Only for the benefit of the Wall
street robbers and to protect the millions they have loaned the
English, French and Italians?
"You have never seen Germany, so you are fools if you allow
yourselves to hate us. Come over and see for yourselves. To carry a
gun in this service is not an honor but a shame. Throw it away and
come over to the German lines. You will find friends who will help
you along."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account