Reflections on Veterans Day

In addition to working to eradicate race-based discrimination, I always hope that our Branch’s presence in the North Shore offers three things: 1. support to people in need of it, 2. a platform for access and consideration of the Black perspective on all matters of civic life, and 3. a space for all people to desegregate their hearts and minds in a supportive environment. I firmly subscribe to the NAACP mantra that ‘racism is not a black problem, it’s an American problem’. For our region, we take pride in being a source for learning since most of us were told a story of America that marginalized Black history and the participation of Black Americans in the core history narrative. 

Veterans Day celebrates the service of all US military veterans. It allows us to honor the people who have sacrificed their lives for our country, and it provides us an opportunity to give thanks to the men and women who serve in the military right now to protect our country.
 

The history of Black Americans serving in the US military is fascinating, inspiring and heartbreaking. Some might argue that this history began during the Revolutionary War when slaves managed the tobacco crops that paid for the French troops that helped us to win our Independence. If it weren’t for the slave labor that grew these crops, the colonies would not have the resources to secure France as our ally. We could say that we owe our country’s Independence to Black Americans. 

During the Civil War, a war that was fought to eliminate the inhumane practice of owning and enslaving human beings, and to prevent the southern states from seceding so that they could continue to operate a slave economy, both free and enslaved Black men fought for their freedom as they helped our country. By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army and another 19,000 served in the Navy. Nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course of the war. Right here in Massachusetts, we can think upon and be thankful for the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the first Northern black volunteer regiment enlisted to fight in the Civil War.  Its accomplished combat record led to the general recruitment of African-Americans as soldiers.

We all know that Harriet Tubman was an amazing force in the underground Railroad, helping slaves from southern states reach safe passage to the north and Canada. But once the Civil War started in 1861, Tubman used her skills as a spy and expedition leader for the Union Army. In 1863, she became the first and only woman to lead a military expedition during the Civil War, to resounding success. Tubman led 150 soldiers on three federal gunboats up South Carolina’s Combahee River for a surprise attack on the plantations of prominent secessionists, using intelligence she gathered from enslaved people to bypass hidden confederate torpedoes. Along the route, they stopped at several spots to rescue more than 700 enslaved people. Between enabling such a massive escape and burning and pillaging plantations, Tubman’s expedition dealt a major military and psychological blow to the confederacy. About 100 of the Black men rescued that day joined the Union Army.

During WWII, more than one and a half million African Americans served in the United States military forces.  They fought in the Pacific, Mediterranean, and European war zones, including the Battle of the Bulge and the D-Day invasion. These African American service men and women constituted the largest number enlisted in the Army and Navy, and the first to serve in the Marine Corp after 1798. However, as members of the United States military, this Greatest African American Generation encountered unequal treatment and limited opportunities for promotion and transfer due to the practice of racial segregation adhered to by the U.S. military, as well as the nation.

Despite President Truman signing Executive Order 9981, officially ending segregation in the military in 1948, Black Americans still face inequities, for example, lack of graduation into much deserved leadership ranks.

Today, Black Soldiers comprise approximately 21% of the active-duty Army, 15% of the Army National Guard and 21% of the Army Reserve. Black Americans serve in the Army at a rate that is higher than their representation in the U.S. population. 

Since the impactful work of contemporary Black scholars and journalists like Nicole Hannah Jones, Ibram Kendi and many others have become mainstream, public institutions like newspapers, publishing houses, subscription streaming services, museums and public land trusts are actively centering the importance of correcting the long held habit of editing figures out of the story, or telling the story in a way that just omits their participation. This new, collective focus on restoring America’s whole history will undoubtedly benefit all of us. Maybe now we can all begin to hope that we will no longer be robbed of the ability to collectively and widely celebrate these amazing stories of bravery and courage as a whole, together.

This Veteran’s Day, we honor ALL of those who have served our country, and we recognize the differing struggles faced in serving our country. Veteran’s Day is a day to also  recognize that not all service is or was met with equal amounts of gratitude or recognition, and we work for a future where equity in both civil rights and recognition for military contribution can be restored and honored.

I am also grateful for everyone who has worked to ensure that those who have been relegated to the footnotes of history in the past will not be forgotten and will ultimately navigate back into the core of our country’s story to create a complete and whole history that is a full, unedited reflection of our great country, including all of its strengths and flaws.

In Service,

Natalie