Vietnam War on the Issue of Class

¶ … Vietnam War on the issue of class and race on the Black Americans who participated in the war too.

Vietnam War

America has in many wars, starting from the Revolutionary era to the war in Vietnam. These wars have inflicted the American society with frequent problems related to paranoia, racial prejudice and discrimination. In any war, the racial groups, ethnic minority or beliefs are discriminated against the enemy from that period, whether the enemy has been the Southerners as in the Civil War, or the Japanese in WWII, Germans or communists. However, the reality is that the Black Americans have suffered from never-ending and unprecedented discrimination irrespective of the enemy in the war. This essay highlights the issues of class and race and its affects during and after the end of the cold war in Vietnam. This paper reviews the history of how their involvement and what their treatment was like when they were equally participating in the American war with Vietnam. The harsh discrimination against the Black Americans' changed their perceptions of themselves, their country and their place in it. To give the reader a better understanding of their place in society dominated by the whites it is important to begin with the Civil War.

The Black American experience in the Civil War was horrid and ugly. It was fought to win their way out of slavery. The Black men who chose to fight in the war, had the intention of winning emancipation however, the Northerners felt that the resources which they had control of would be lost if they freed the slaves or accepted the wishes of the Black recruits. At the same time, the famous Black leader, Frederick Douglas believed that Black participation in the Civil War was a powerful argument in their future demands for full rights of citizenship ... (for)"Once let the Black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S.; let him get an eagle upon his button ... bullets in his pocket, and there is no power on earth ... which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States.'"

Although, the Black soldiers gave in to their demands of fighting alongside whites in the American wars, they continued to suffer discrimination as slaves No More, 'Dealings between Black soldiers and their officers generally ... carried all the historic burdens of white-Black relationships in the United States'

. Even in the wars, they were always given the mediocre positions because the whites believed that they had no skills or intellect in the sphere of war fighting. However, those who were armed proved to be assets to the American army and it was their success that led to gaining their freedom through Union success. Their devotion and hard work earned them their emancipation from slavery and opened doors to making changes such as the formation of the Bureau of Colored Troops in 1863.

Before the World War I took place the white Americans had already developed prejudice and racism against the black American community. This is why the blacks had to fight to be enlisted in the army. The President, Woodrow Wilson, even stated that it was a "White man's wai." 4 Any progress which had resulted from the Civil War was undermined by the inherent racism within American society. Once again Black soldiers were generally placed in menial positions; JR. Johnson identifies that 'Of the 200,000 Negroes who went to France some 160,000 were used as servants and in labor battalions'.

World War I according to the American society was actually a war fought to win democracy and equal rights for all. This is why the Black Americans believed that if they fought for democracy in the Vietnam War they would win it at home too. The Black leader W.E.B. Du Bois suggested,

"Let us, while the war lasts, forget our special grievances and close ranks shoulder to shoulder with our white fellow citizens ... fighting for democracy. We make no ordinary sacrifice, but we make it gladly and willingly. "

The discrimination affected the black soldiers in Vietnam, because they wanted to fight in all-Black units and live in all-Black barracks. Also those who didn't support the war were found in the armies in Vietnam and America. For this reason, it was not unusual for soldiers to take part in peace protests. This form of discrimination against them made them feel that the war they were fighting was fruitless and that their involvement in the war was more likely to create racial tensions at home than being them some advantages.

They were so upset over their treatment on the basis of their class and race that the started to fight against white discrimination. Also it is believed that warfare was far more intense when the enemy was non-white and this is why the atom bomb was dropped on Japan instead of Germany. Towards the mid of the war, the Black soldiers began to identify themselves with the enemy. Muhammad Ali said: "No Viet Cong ever called me nigger."

Michael Herr, also accepted this idea in a conversation with a Black army recruit, who stated that he didn't dedicate himself to the war because he felt that if he were to fight back he would have probably killed one of his own white countrymen.

The Black soldiers continued to experience discrimination, despite their military participation. Their loyalty was not only affected but also their patriotism for their country was weakened and left them insulated from the German propaganda of World War I. The black soldiers sent to Vietnam experienced the same negative effects. In a letter from Vietnam, 'there were more than a dozen Black Panthers' in one platoon, and that one man 'was an agent for the panthers, sent over...to recruit'