Segregated Soldiers: Military Training at Historically Black Colleges in the Jim Crow South

5. Our Uniform Hasn’t Lost Its Prestige with Our People: Military Training and Service on the Bluff, 1960–1967

101 5 OUR UNIFORM HASN’T LOST ITS PRESTIGE WITH OUR PEOPLE MILITARY TRAINING AND SERVICE ON THE BLUFF, 1960–1967 S upport for African American service in the armed forces persisted in the 1960s despite the upheavals of civil rights protests, the Black Power movement, and disillusionment with the war in Vietnam. Between 1960 and 1967 the civil rights thrust incorporated innovative tactics and a wider support base that included young African Americans, white Americans , and sympathetic clergy throughout the nation. Much like during the 1950s, the armed forces played a major role in the civil rights movement in that national security and Cold War politics dictated the fair treatment of African American servicemen and citizens. Within the black community, military service continued to offer greater benefits and opportunities for advancement than most civilian jobs. As a result, military training and service remained a popular career choice on black college campuses throughout the South. After 1965, however, many individuals in the black community began to question America’s motives and presence in Vietnam and linked the struggle for African American civil rights and social equality with the Vietnamese fight for self-determination. Many black leaders and student activists openly criticized the federal government for perpetuating what they believed to be racial imperialism in the United States and throughout the world. Jim Crow laws in the South and the presence of U.S. armed forces in Vietnam were clear indications of white America’s desire to exert its will upon people of color. The conflict in Vietnam not only divided civil rights organizations on 102 SEGREGATED SOLDIERS issues concerning the war, but tended to place African American students in three camps: Those who supported the virtues of military training and service, individuals who became antiwar advocates, and, to a lesser degree, students that were against the war and black military training and service. As America became more entrenched in the war, black college campuses became the central point for political debate in the black community. AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE WAR On black college campuses such as Southern University, the antiwar movement was vastly different from the mass demonstrations and physical altercations at white colleges and universities. During this period, many faculty and students first denounced the U.S. presence in Vietnam and by the late 1960s moved to advocating the termination of compulsory ROTC programs, all without ever truly condemning those in ROTC uniform. In fact, antiwar supporters and individuals who believed in the merits of military training and service became engaged in a verbal standoff concerning America’s escalation of the war in Vietnam and the virtues of military service. Antiwar and promilitary advocates were locked into a rhetorical battle debating such issues as “What Good Can Military Training Do You?” and “Is Military Training Necessary?” Moreover, African American administrators no longer possessed the influence they once enjoyed in prior decades and were challenged by many students and faculty who believed they represented obstacles to social progress and the struggle for civil rights. According to Donald Matthews and James Prothro, “as the Negro masses grew more militant and demanding, the established black leaders like college administrators were caught in a crossfire of conflicting demands. On the one hand, their position as leaders depended on their access to and acceptance by white community leaders and politicians. On the other hand, if the black leaders failed to reflect the growing militancy of their followers, they would lose their influence among the rank and file.”1 In addition, the generational divide between university officials and faculty and students became more acute during the period as the direction of the civil rights movement began to shift to embrace a militant style of activism that allowed little compromise on the part of youth. As international independence movements accelerated OUR UNIFORM HASN’T LOST ITS PRESTIGE WITH OUR PEOPLE 103 around the world in the late 1950s and early 1960s, young people viewed their personal plight as part of a worldwide struggle of colored nations to free themselves from the control and exploitation of totalitarian and imperialistic governments such as the United States.2 THE HISTORIC LINK BETWEEN MILITARY SERVICE AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT To truly understand the modern civil rights movement, one must appreciate the vital role of African American military veterans and the value of military service in the pursuit of equal citizenship and social justice. Many...