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
In France there arose two forms of subtle and dangerous propaganda with
which the Negro had to contend. One was disseminated by the Germans
and the other by some of his own comrades in arms. Over the lines the
Germans sent their insidious matter, of which the following is a sample:
“To the Colored Soldiers of the U. S. Army,
September, 1918, Vosges Mountains.
“Hello, boys, what are you doing over there? Fighting the Germans?
Why? Have they ever done you any harm? Of course, some white folks
and the lying English-American papers told you that the Germans ought
to be wiped out for the sake of humanity and democracy. What is
democracy? Personal freedom, all citizens enjoying the same rights
socially and before the law. Do you enjoy the same rights as the
white people do in America, the land of freedom and democracy? Or
aren’t you rather rated over there as second class citizens? Can you
go to a restaurant where white people dine, can you get a seat in a
theatre where white people sit, can you get a pullman seat or berth
in a railroad car, or can you ride in the South in the same street
car with white people? And how about the law? Is lynching and the
most horrible cruelties connected therewith a lawful proceeding in a
democratic country?
“Now all of this is entirely different in Germany, where they do like
colored people, where they do treat them as gentlemen and not as
second class citizens. They enjoy exactly the same social privileges
as every white man, and quite a number of colored people have mighty
fine positions in Berlin and other big German cities.
“Why, then, fight the Germans only for the benefit of the Wall Street
robbers to protect the millions they have lent to the English, French,
and Italians? You have been made the tool of the egotistic and
rapacious rich in England and America, and there is nothing in the
whole game for you but broken bones, horrible wounds, broken health
or--death. No satisfaction whatever will you get out of this unjust
war. You have never seen Germany; so you are fools if you allow people
to teach you to hate it. Come over and see for yourself. Let those do
the fighting who make profit out of this war; don’t allow them to use
you as cannon food. To carry the gun in their defense 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.”
Copies of this document fell among the Negro soldiers in the front line
trenches. Every effort was made to keep the men from reading it, but
many secured copies nevertheless. They said to their officers who went
among them to gather up the copies, “We know what they say is true, but
don’t worry; we’re not going over.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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