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Chapter 6. Fighting Segregation in the Corps
- The University of North Carolina Press
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Chapter 6 Fighting Segregation in the Corps I t was not just in the South that Montford Point Marines and all African Americans faced racial discrimination; segregation reflected the racial attitudes and beliefs of the entire nation’s white population. For the entire time black recruits trained at Montford Point, segregation was the of- ficial policy of the Corps, and it was the law of the United States. American armed forces remained segregated after World War II, until July 26, 1948, when President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, finally ending segregation within the military. The implementation of Truman’s executive order proceeded gradually, however. The deactivation of Montford Point as a segregated training facility occurred on September 9, 1949. Thereafter all black Marine recruits trained at integrated facilities. Segregated black units remained in the Corps, however, well into the Korean War. Segregation also existed throughout the South, despite the Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, which did little to disturb the daily routine of life in the segregated South. Elsewhere in the nation, especially in major urban areas, restrictive housing practices and employment discrimination continued to be common, forcing large segments of the African American population into segregated communities and lives of economic hardship. After the Korean War the African American Marines who remained in the Corps, and later black recruits, found themselves serving in a fully integrated Marine Corps. When stationed in the South, however, once off base they continued to be forced to abide by segregationist state laws and face the racial prejudice of a white society still devoted to the doctrine of white supremacy. That situation existed well into the time of the Vietnam conflict, coming to an end only when African American citizens took their campaign for equality into the streets of the South’s major cities. The 1963 march on Washington, in many ways the fulfillment of the planned march on Washington of 1941 that led to the establishment of Montford Point, and other struggles of the civil rights movement eventually led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This historic legislation, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson as Marines trained at Montford Point carried out their duty on the battlefields of Vietnam, finally outlawed segregation in the United States. Gene Doughty At the outset of Montford Point camp, when it was first established, quite obviously we didn’t have black drill instructors. What headquarters Marine Corps sent it [Montford Point] to do was to get the most seasoned, most polished veterans in the Marine Corps, particularly those who had served in the earlier Guadalcanal campaign. And that was around November, ’41. They were chosen to be drill instructors, because of their background, and I might add, most of these guys were from the South. Most of these guys were from Mississippi and Georgia. There were a few who really didn’t want us in the Marine Corps, quite obviously, very angry about allowing us black folk to enter into the Marine Corps, the most elite, most prestigious unit. Kind of bothered them a little bit. They just didn’t want us. Now, I’m not saying the overwhelming majority. I would say there were just a few, understand, who just didn’t want [blacks]. They really did not concern themselves with turning out an elite bunch of guys. Instead, they would rather see you walk out the door and never come back. So that was the attitude of the drill instructors. That made me bitter. That made me bitter . Because now, you know, what I’d looked at when I looked at the Marine Corps as a prestigious unit, you know, hey, loyalty and all that sort of thing, nonbiased. And then to come down there and be part of this kind of response, social response, just didn’t fit too well with me. There were times when I might have left. And that’s exactly what they wanted. They would rather see us leave any time. But that kind of dissuasion, I had to meet with that, because, hey, I’m down here. And this is a challenge. With the help of some other peoples, my brothers, my buddies. Other people says, look, hey, we’re down here for a purpose, and we’re gonna stick, and we’re gonna go through this thick and thin, regardless of what happens. So grin and bear it. And I remember those words...