Sidelights on Negro SoldiersWilliams, Charles H. (Charles Halston)
History
Sidelights on Negro Soldiers
Williams, Charles H. (Charles Halston)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Participation, African American
According to a memorandum of September 11, 1918, the War Department
established the commands to be occupied by white and colored officers
in the organization of the 92nd Division, and indicated that every
opportunity would be given the Negro men to advance. In practice,
however, there seems to have been some difficulty about carrying out
the ideas therein suggested. The percentage of white officers in the
Division increased from 18 per cent at the beginning, to 42 per cent
on November 30, 1918. Very few recommendations for the promotion of
Negro officers were made and most of these are said to have been
“pigeon-holed” at headquarters. Some recommendations that were filed
in July and August, 1918, were held until after the signing of the
Armistice on November 11, when an A. E. F. order prohibited the
granting of any more commissions. Another factor which prevented
promotions in the 92nd Division was that colored officers from the
369th, 370th, and 372nd, and graduates from officers’ training schools
in France were largely transferred to the 92nd Division. This made
room for the promotion of white officers in the units from which the
Negro officers were transferred, but prevented the promotion of colored
officers in the 92nd.
Thus most of the Negro officers who served in the National Army were
in the 92nd Division. The creation of this Division with Negro line
officers was regarded by practically all regular army officers as one
of the greatest mistakes ever made by the War Department. From their
viewpoint it was wrong in principle, against all tradition, and could
not possibly be a success. Not believing in the matter in principle,
they did not want to deal with Negro men on such a basis; they did
things to discredit them, even to the extent of spreading propaganda as
to their unfitness for the work. Thus unfortunately the Negro officers
returned home feeling that their commanding officers were not their
friends; nor were matters improved by the effort of some incompetent
men “higher up” who tried to cover their own inefficiency by laying the
blame on the Negroes. The prevailing opinion expressed by the white
officers returning from France was that the Negro soldier up to the
rank of sergeant-major was a success, and they lauded the stevedore and
labor organizations as contributing much to the magnificent service
rendered by the Americans in Europe. The “experiment” of the Negro
officer, they felt, was a different matter. A careful review of all
the adverse points made might place them under four heads, as follows:
First, the racial distinctions recognized in civilian life continued to
be recognized in military life and presented a formidable barrier to
the existence of a genuine feeling of comradeship; second, the colored
officers were lacking in initiative and exhibited a characteristic
tendency to neglect the welfare of their men and to perform their
duties in a perfunctory manner, thus entailing on the part of senior
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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