A Half-Century of Presidential Race Initiatives: Some Reflections

Abstract

A Half-Century of Presidential Race Initiatives: Some Reflections JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN If context is not everything—and I am one who believes it is not—it is, nevertheless, a valuable instrument for gaining perspective on the past as well as the present. In the scheme of things, fifty years does not seem a very long time, but in the life of a human being it constitutes at least two-thirds ofthe life span that one can reasonably expect. I was reflecting on such matters not long ago as I was attempting to place the rise ofHarry S Truman in the context ofhis times and attempting to understand the complexities ofthe period following World War II that had been an extraordinarilybrutal affair, in some ways the most brutal in human history. It introduced some of the most impersonal methods ofslaughtering human beings, the most brutal ofall was, ofcourse, nuclearwarfare itself. Perhaps the type of warfare and the human casualties were the only thing that overshadowed the miserable state of human and race relations that characterized the war years in the United States. It was not only that my brother, drafted from his position as a high school principal, was told by a white sergeant that he would dedicate his years in the army to seeing that my brother did nothing more exalting than peel potatoes. It was not merely that with four years of experience as an office manager and more than adequate secretarial skills, and a Ph.D. from Harvard, I was toldby a Navy recruiter, desperate for people to manage the naval offices after Pearl Harbor, that I had everything but color! It was also the Jim Crow flying field at Tuskegee, the racially segre­ gated blood banks, the Jim Crow facilities at every military installation, thejob discrimina­ tion in civilian life, and the general segregation of the United States armed forces as the men and women left home to fight abroad for the fourfreedoms. Itwas the mockery ofthehighly touted war aims that caused some white RACE INITIATIVES 227 While African Americans were called on to fight for democracy during World War II, they suffered a raw deal at home. They bore the brunt of segregation, humiliation, and discrimination that this country served up, including second-class status in public facilities and accomodations. Americans and most black Americans to wonder ifthe United States was really serious in claiming that its crusade was against tyranny, Nazi racism, and Japanese militarism. It did not take some foreign ideology or some home-grown radicalism to understand that the carefully cultivated racism in the United States was a powerful force for evil and that the bitterness of African Americans was carefully nurtured by military and public policy. By the spring of 1945, some 497,566 African American men and women were serving overseas in every theater ofwar, while an equal number served in the armed forces at home. Meanwhile, millions ofthem worked in every war-related industrial activity in which they were permitted to serve. In every conceivable way, they bore the brunt of segregation, humiliation, and discrimination that this country could serve up without the slightest twinge of conscience that one could observe. Small wonder that there were innumerable racial clashes on and offmilitary posts. There were riots at Fort Bragg, Camp Robinson, Camp Davis, Camp Lee, Fort Dix, and elsewhere. The emotional conflicts and frustrations that African Americans experi­ enced as they sought to reconcile the doctrine of the four freedoms with their own plight discouraged many and even left some quite disillusioned when they were mustered out of the armed forces. Coming to the presidency in the spring of 1945, Harry S Truman was not long in recognizing that the racial situation in the United States was not only explosive and dangerous, but that it was the responsibility of the United States government to assume a clear responsibility: to take the initiative in ameliorating, even changing things in funda­ mentallyimportantways. The FairEmployment Practices Commission, established by Presi­ dent Franklin D. Roosevelt, had been a first step in providing training and employment for 228 JOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY African Americans. They soon discovered, however, that the opportunities were limited...