A war within a war is taking place in South Vietnam and its implications for the future of American politics can hardly be overestimated. This is the struggle of Afro-American GIs against racism in the Army.
[illegible] by Zalin B. Grant in the Jan. 18 issue of THE NEW REPUBLIC, gives recent details.
Grant focuses attention on Camp Tien Sha, a naval supply base near Da Nang, which is "a comfortable piece down the road" from the fighting war.
"It is so much like the 'world' - GI slang for the U.S.," Grant reports, "that the camp's biggest threat is race riots, not Vietcong."
"Increasingly, blacks in Vietnam salute each other with the upraised clenched fists of Black Power," Grant continues. "Bitter disputes have flared in some units over whether service regulations permit Negroes to affect Afro-style haircuts."
"Fights between black and white servicemen, the behind-the-barracks variety never officially reported, are on the rise."
Grant runs over typical examples of racism reported by black soldiers. One told him, "in the service you're supposed to give your buddy a ride if he's walking. But many Caucasians won't pick blacks up. Instead they may yell, 'hey nigger!' as they drive by."
Blacks at Tien Sha have staged demonstrations and formed committees to combat racism. One member - who planned to join the Panthers upon returning to the U.S. - told Grant: "As our session ended two white guys stopped and asked what we were doing. We told them to leave but they yelled 'black mother-fuckers' and threw rocks. So 12 blacks caught them and did a job."
This led to a fracas which eventually forced some concessions from the white commander, Grant reports. But several months later a GI told him: "Nothing has really changed."
A variety of statistics have been printed on the number of black GIs in the services, in Vietnam, on combat duty, and the casualties. They all point to the inescapable conclusion that the majority of Afro-Americans are thrown onto the front lines.
Grant holds that the blacks "make up an estimated 20 per cent. of combat troops and 25 per cent. of elite units, while representing only 12 per cent. of the total U.S. forces in Vietnam."
It is when GIs are off the battlefield, according to Grant, that Afro-American militancy emerges: "Negroes in units larger than battalions - which is the smallest field unit - stick together like [illegible]. Black groups segregate themselves in clubs and dining halls. All major U.S. enclaves have Negro-only clubs on their fringes..."
"Self-imposed segregation is one of the few acts of belligerence possible for militants under the sturdy discipline of military service. They say their rebellion is not against the armed forces.. but against U.S. society."