Question 78.1: Free Response

26. When I see some work has not been done by another mechanic to the best of his ability. 30. On the account of my age I feel like I can serve best here servicing Basic Trainer planes. 57,58,59. All they ask for is a chance to help produce in our war plants are where ever there service is needed most this war cannot be won unless the Negro's labor is added to produce not slow up production and any firm refusing to hire a man are woman on the acct of color is as guilty as I would be doing something to a plane to cause it to crack up and kill a polit no we the American Negro as a whole just ask for a chance- we have never failed yet, and we can't fail now. 65. I figure if a man was a gentleman in civilian life he will conduct himself the same as a soldier regardless of race or creed.

I think as a whole the negro are trying to help win this war and now are after the war as any other time the president and congress should help to stop as much discrimination and stop lynching and give every body a chance as we are all Americans trying to win this war

First Why do the whole Signal Corp have the best training + mostly all that the Colored get is Construction + as a whole no Colored Soldiers wants to fight this War because he don't have any thing to fight for. the White man did not send any help when Italy invaded effrica [Africa] + we don't see why we Should fight to help you be ruler of us. As a hole [whole] even if Germany Won we could not be much worser off then we are now. In the South there are about twice as many negros as anywhere else. does the government do any thing to help there condition. No. then Why Should we do anything to help you.

I think that if some of the petty discriminations that are practiced against Negro soldiers in restaurants, hotels, and transportation facilities were done away with, the morale of Negro troops would improve considerably. When a Negro soldier is refused service in any of the above places, he usually asks himself: What am I fighting for? Am I fighting, being forced to give up my life, to perpetuate these things? Must I always be looked upon as being inferior because of the color of my skin? In a Nazi dominated country perhaps I would be required to wear a badge to show that I was inferior, even though I know I am not, but in America my badge is the color of my skin. I suppose he also wonders what wort of a regime will be in practice after this conflict is over. I for one do. Will I have a chance to vote? Will I have a chance to take part in the practice of Democracy? Will I still see my women insulted and forced to stay on certain economic strata ? Will my brothers still be burned, lynched, and murdered and the perpertrators of these things go unpunished? To me America is a better place in which to live than Germany, Japan, or Italy, but couldn't it be better than it is?

Not that I fear that it will ever happen but the sooner the American white population acknowledge that we (Negros) too are a part of this vast wheel of machinery the better off this country will be Don't say we are fighting for one thing and all the time there are places here where one is treated like a enemy. Even the Japanese here in this country can get more and go further than the Negro. And dont mention the German. Any way none of this Race (Negro) has been shoot for sabatorge.

The sooner that the white people in the United States relize that we are all Americans, the better it will be for every one, I think the President should start a law, just like he did the Linberg Law, In the Southern States, and stop all of these things that are going on there. Give every body jobs of all kinds every where, then we all would be satisfied I am sure. The White people in the South think they are some ones Master, And want people to Say Mr. to them, But why shouldn't they say Mr. to us - I cant see any difference we are all American, I am sure.

Not because I am a negro but because I blame it on trust. I will say that I believe if the negros had more power this war wouldn't last as long due to the fact that when a negro get into something he will put all that he has into it and get it done. While the white man is trying to keep the negro down the Japs and Germans are fighting like hell. The white man must get up off the negro before the war can be won by the U.S. Let every man be a man no matter if he is colored or white and we can win this war. "God bless America"

As a Negro soldier in these United States of America's armed forces, I am indeed proud to be in the vanguard of these forces that are bend on delivering the final crushes blows to Fascism all over the world. My own life and those of millions of other Negro peoples have been retarded by the presence of our enemy Fascism. We the Negro people more than welcome this opportunity to prove our devotion to our country. All we ask in return is that our country show us in deeds and not in words that they intend to work with us and not against us like they have in the past. We want the same opportunities of development and economic advantages. We refuse to accept the ideology of the South that Negro's are not equal to white people in every phase of life. We want our history of the past properly translated and not falsely misrepresented. We the Negro people demand full equality and proper representation of our unsolved problem.

I am an enlisted man, volunteer and when I enlisted I put my signature on paper for three years good time in the Army, but now that the war is going on I will be forced to stay, wheather I like it or not. I don't think that is fair, when I complete my three years. I think the Government should comply by the rules of our Contract, and if I want to re-enlist that would be up to me. I believe it would be much better if, the War Dept would give every volunteer their choice to re-enlist or go out and be drafted. I think we should keep negroes mostly in the U.S.A. this is a war of the globe, but the negro can't do much, they are not well enough trained, because this is mostly a technical war.

I hope the Negroes be treat better when the war is over because we is doing our part anly Nation can come in USA and kill a negros and they wont do any thing to him it was a white man kill a solders and he was a color solider and that did put him in jail at all that was not right at all

I think that if we're going to win this war, the white people in the South will have to realize that the negro soldier is taking a part in this war also. They continue to kill and lynch negro soldiers without thought that there is a war going on, and that man power is needed badly.

The white people put the colored people under the impression that they can win the war by themselves. We all know that this is foolish, because in the last war the colored soldiers were the ace in the hole.

A number of soldiers in this outfit have applied for O.C.S. [Officer Candidate School] They have high I.Q. [Intelligence Quotients] ratings. Yet they are turned down. I don't think they get any further than our Battalion Commander.

We had three fellows from this outfit go to glider school. Because there weren't facilities for colored they were sent back. The money used for their transportation and to build buildings for negroes was enough to buy a bomber.

As far as I am concerned the army is fine of course a little tough but so am I. I am for all out effort to the fullest extent toward crushing the axis, for the benefit of us all, but still I hope for better living conditions for the negro race we are contributing every thing we have as we always have done in the past. but it hurts so much to offer your all and suffer the kicks and knocks from the white soilder and civilians if any thing can be done about this matter it is just as important as our most important objective. It would be wise for the nation to wake up to the fact that our liberty depends upon our fullest cooperation with each other. I am for the quickest "victory" possible at any cost. And better living conditions for us all, especially the negroes, as we are the one so much in need of this.

I like a white man as well as I do a colored man if he is a intelligent person. Its time now that both races get together and live and try to win this war so we all can go home . Buckle down and really pull together and stop all this ignorant segregation in the south. The colored soldiers would and could do much better if he was treated like a soldier and not a dog. We love America just as any other race but how can we love it when people act like we are beast. It has been proven that if a colored person try hard enough to do something great he can do it. But first the spirit must be there & not a lot of Hatred.

I think we would be able to win this war much quicker if colored Soldiers were given the same chance as the white. I also think that the Southern white people are doing more to make us lose this war than the German or a Japanese because they are treating colored soldier like dogs you read the paper + it tell you about some colored soldiers being hanged without a fair trial witch is not true democracy it is thing like that which makes me feel like I have nothing to fight for or I should fight here in the U.S. to bring about the right that colored people are supposed to have. It makes a soldier feel like hell to go in the store and the waiter tell him, we don't serve colored people here or you have to go around the back door to get it.

You see advertisements all over the country saying we need thousands of Pilots, but I know of a number of men who are College graduates and have registered to take this course and still they haven't been called. The Army, Navy, Marines are passing up a wonderful opportunity by not calling such men.

My answers to some of these questions doesn't mean that I'm a traitor for the Negro has proven that he is a patriot for 300 years but I do know what the score is, as far as a White man's feeling is toward the Negro.

Why can't the Negroes which are left in civilian life be able to get those jobs which are left open in big war industry plants. This is suppose to be a war the country is suppose to produce machinery to win the war, how can they when they won't let Negroes take over those jobs. Why can't the Negroes officer advance no farther than a first Lietnant [Lieutenant] in the Infantry, why can't some of them be able to take over a Company, Battalion or a Regiment. Their advancement seem very poorly.

Why don't Uncle Sam moved all negroes soldiers from Mississippi and Louisiana? They're are lynched as though they were dogs. The negroes would feel better fighting if their love one back home were given a fair chance to work in war factories but the white peoples are kicking against them. My personal opinion about Mississippi let the enemy come and work hell out of it and it would be better than before. That incident happened in Texas some few months ago makes the negroes feel like throwing their weapons down and walk out of the United States. All negroes should be evacuated from Louisiana and Mississippi for their own good they're done being slaughtered like cattles and hogs.

I think the Army as a whole would benifit if they would allow the white and colored soldiers to live as well as fight together.

Q72 The longer the war last the more chance the Negro will have to advance him self in fields heretofore he has not been able to enter. Before the War White people were reluctant to hire Negroes in Airplane Factories and this War will definatly need more Air power than we have at the present time and they are, and will have to hire more negros to help build these planes. The same goes for Ship yards. After the War and the Negro has been given a chance to show what he can do along all fields of Industry I think more of us will be able to get jobs in factories where doors have been barred to us because of Racial Discrimination.

For some reason or other, no one wants to inform, or should I say insult, for that's what it would be called, the southern states, that a war is going on. The only people getting much out of the war spending seems to be the merchants who except a soldier is a soldier as long as he creates no disturbance. The methods of doing business and the living conditions as a whole down here (ala) are about 40 years behind time.