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| President Harry Truman |
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| Executive Order 9981 |
Sixty-five
years ago today, on July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman signed into law, Executive Order 9981,
with the intent of ending racial segregation in the armed forces.
The
order read, "It is hereby declared to be the
policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and
opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race,
color, religion, or national origin."
The
President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed
Services obligated the government to begin integrating the military immediately. Finally,
it was time.
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| Segregated Military Police |
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| Whites & Blacks Only Entrances |
Jim
Crow laws were in effect throughout the military, and the country, from 1876 to
1965. During WW II over 2.5 million African American males registered for the
draft, over 75% were placed in the Army, and 125,000 served
overseas.
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| Whites Only Mess Hall |
Black
soldiers knew when they enlisted during WWII, they would be serving in
segregated units, most working non-combat jobs driving trucks, working in mess halls, or working as
dock laborers. Only the Army Air Corp and the Marines accepted African Americans
for combat roles as fighter pilots.
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| Red Ball Express |
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| Red Ball Highway |
But
despite segregation, many African American units stood out for their spirit and
courage. The Red Ball Express, operated mainly by black soldiers, was a convoy of about 6,000 trucks that delivered over 12,000 tons of supplies, each
day, to the European Allied forces. The Red Ball Express ran from August to
November 1944 and gave the Allies the traction needed on the ground to defeat
the Germans.
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| 761st Tank Battalion |
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| Black Panthers |
The
761st Tank Battalion of the US Army was known as the Black Panthers.
They served under General George Patton’s US Third Army, at his request,
seeing action throughout central Europe, the Battle of the Bulge, and ending
the war fighting on German soil.
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| Tuskegee Airmen |
The
Tuskegee Airmen were the first U.S. African American military pilots. Known as
the Red-Tailed Angels, they flew P-40’s Warhawks and P-51 Mustangs, escorting the
heavy bombers lumbering to and from Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary and
Czechoslovakia with their bomb loads.
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| Children at a Nazi Camp |
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| Remains at a Nazi Concentration Camp |
At
the war’s end, the world was stunned by the atrocities committed against the
Jews, by Nazi Germany. It was a revelation that made many Americans take a
deeper look at racism in this country. “With liberty and justice for all” now had a new meaning to many, including our European Allies who could not understand why the U.S. was still segregated.
African
American veterans came back home after the war determined to stand up against
the racial injustices occurring against them in the country they had fought for.
Now they were fighting a war for equal treatment and opportunity.
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| Committee on Civil Rights |
In
1946, President Truman appointed a Committee on Civil Rights to document racial
violence and civil rights violations throughout the country for one year.
In
1947, the committee released its report “To Secure These Rights” reporting that the “disease of racism” was still thriving in the U.S. and especially
in the nation’s military. The report recommended legislation be enacted "to end immediately all discrimination and
segregation based on race, color, creed or national origin in...all branches of
the Armed Services."
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| President Truman Addressing Congress |
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| Congress 1948 |
In
February 1948, President Truman called for Congress to enact the
recommendations issued by the committee. When southern members threatened a
filibuster to stop the bill, Truman overrode them by using his executive powers
and making Executive Order 9981 the law.
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| United States Colored Troops |
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| Arlington Cemetery |
Arlington Cemetery, along with all
other national cemeteries, adopted the President's policy and stopped
all segregated burial practices that year. By 1954, the Army announced its last black unit had been desegregated. By the end of the Korean Conflict, most of
the military was integrated.
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| Comrades |
Although
racism continued in the military and throughout the country for years after
Executive Order 9981 was signed into law, it was the first major blow struck
against segregation. That ruling gave African Americans hope to believe that in time,
justice would be served and liberty and justice would, indeed, be for all.
~
Joy
The
President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed
Services obligated the government to begin integrating the military immediately. Finally,
it was time.
Black
soldiers knew when they enlisted during WWII, they would be serving in
segregated units, most working non-combat jobs driving trucks, working in mess halls, or working as
dock laborers. Only the Army Air Corp and the Marines accepted African Americans
for combat roles as fighter pilots. 
African
American veterans came back home after the war determined to stand up against
the racial injustices occurring against them in the country they had fought for.
Now they were fighting a war for equal treatment and opportunity.
In
1947, the committee released its report “To Secure These Rights” reporting that the “disease of racism” was still thriving in the U.S. and especially
in the nation’s military. The report recommended legislation be enacted "to end immediately all discrimination and
segregation based on race, color, creed or national origin in...all branches of
the Armed Services."
Although
racism continued in the military and throughout the country for years after
Executive Order 9981 was signed into law, it was the first major blow struck
against segregation. That ruling gave African Americans hope to believe that in time,
justice would be served and liberty and justice would, indeed, be for all.
