1. The Black Man’s Fight By Joshua Bolick
The White Man’s War
The Black Man’s Fight
By Joshua Bolick

2. A brief history: Part of French Indochina
Japanese occupation from
French ousted in 1954
North/South split
1962: American “aid” begins
1965: War begins in earnest
1966: Full blown war

3. Grumpy leaves Snow White to protest the war in Southeast Asia

4. Obligatory Map

5. Institutional Racism
An institution or organization contains inherent vestiges of racism which leads to built in disadvantages for minorities
For example:

6. The United States of America

7. How is racism institutionalized in America?
Housing
Education
Unemployment rates
Income
Imprisonment rates
The Draft

8. Inst. Racism
Few African Americans received hardship deferments
Few occupational deferments due to menial jobs in civilian sector
Draft boards were overwhelmingly white
Physical deferments
College deferments

9. Continued
More whites were failed for physical reasons than blacks because they had access to medical care and were therefore aware of defects that may exclude them from service.
Were capable of providing a medical record.
: 21.9 % of whites failed for physical reasons
14.5 % of blacks failed for physical reasons
1970: % of whites failed for physical reasons
24.5 % of blacks failed for physical reasons

10. Selective Service Armed Forces Qualification Test
Determines job placement
White cultural bias
Relegated African Americans to service and combat roles

11. Major source for black deferments:
Mental test failure
AFQT
: 54.1% of examined blacks rejected
18.6% of whites rejected for same
Standards lowered in ’65 and ‘66

12. Other ways to avoid the draft
Seek Officer Commissions
National Guard Service not subject to strict federal control, so many states excluded blacks
0.4% of black soldiers
4.3% of white soldiers
1.15% of Army Nat’l Guard
0.6% of Air Nat’l Guard

13. Project 100,000
Pentagon presented program as part of war on poverty but later admitted that it was intended to build numbers
These inductees received no special training and were placed in unskilled jobs (read grunt)
Of the first 246k, 41.2% nonwhite

14. High Death Toll 1965: 1 in 4 soldiers KIA was black
1969: 16% KIA black

15. Black Attitudes
Many blacks held positive views of military service initially
Historical belief that service would lead to equality
Better chances at success than in civilian world
“Let the black man get upon his person the brass letters US. Let him get an eagle on his button and a musket on his shoulder, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States.” Frederick Douglass

16. Black Opposition
Advocates of Black Power become very vocal in opposition to the war.
Felt that the white Establishment was sending young (expendable) black men over to die in a war that they would gain nothing from
Recognized that the Vietnamese were people of color
Were not allowed to vote, but allowed to die

17. Stokely Carmichael SNCC leader (1966) Figurehead of BPM
SNCC was “in sympathy with and supports the men in this country who are unwilling to respond to a military draft which would compel them to contribute their lives to US aggression in Vietnam…in the name of the ‘freedom’ we find so false in this country.”

18. The Black Panther Party for Self Defense
One point of the Ten Point Platform was the exemption of all black men from military service.
Felt that the draft was genocide
directed at black men.

21. The Raised Fist

22. Dapping Elaborate handshakes Vietnamese word “dep” Chow lines
Middle school

23. Racism overseas NJP Slave bracelets vs. peace symbols Night patrols
Promotion
KKK activities

24. Group cohesion On the front, most people got along.
The Anderson Platoon
Early vs. later in the war