Working-Class Exploitation to Win Ruling-Class Wars

Throughout its history, the U.S. Military has used racism and sexism to divide and manipulate the working class in an effort to build a military to fight their wars.

• Not Recognized By Name
  During the American Revolutionary War, the typical Black soldier was a private, often lacking a name or official identity. He was carried on the rolls as A Negro man, or Negro by name, or A Negro name not Known
• Denied Human Rights But Forced to Fight
  During the Civil War, Black slaves substituted for White masters who chose not to fight. Pressured by Congress to increase enlistment, some states compensated slave owners up to 120 pounds for slaves who served.
• Three-Fifths A Human Being: All Parts Soldier
  By the end of the American Revolution, over 300,000 men would fight, including approximately 5,000 who were Black. However, the new U.S. Constitution re-emphasized Black inferiority by deeming that, for political representation, each enslaved Black person would only count as three-fifths of a human.
• Returned to Chains After Combat
  After fighting in the War of 1812, Black soldiers were returned to their owners once the war ended and re-enslaved, through the Treaty of Ghent which provided for the mutual restoration of properties, including slaves.
• Defending Murder: Houston Rebellion 1917
  When the Twenty-fourth Infantry, of which all members were Black, arrived in Houston, the segregated Texas City responded by enforcing Jim Crow laws and enlisting city police to harass the men. On August 23, two cops beat and murdered a member of the infantry in response members of the 24^th organized the Houston Rebellion. In November 1917, the largest court-martial in U.S. military history convened at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio to try sixty-three soldiers from the rebellion.  Thirteen of the convicted men were executed by hanging on December 11 and 47 others received life sentences.
• American Weapons not American Citizens
  Although they were still not considered American citizens, more than 17,000 indigenous workers fought in WWI (1914—1918). They would, however, not receive any veteran benefits until 1924, when they were declared citizens, yet racism and exploitation were still commonplace in the military.
• Jim Crow On The Ground & In Flight
  During WWII (1940 – 1952), the Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black military aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces. The Military was still racially segregated and Black soldiers were subjected to racism both within and outside the Army. In Southern States Black soldiers were also was still subject to Jim Crow laws.
• Scapegoating on U.S. and E.U. Soil
  During WWII almost four times as many Black soldiers as whites were executed in Europe after military courts-martial, despite the fact that Blacks made up less than 10 percent of troops (NYT, 2013).
• Turning a Blind Eye to Racist Extracurricular Activities
  In 1986, Marine and Army troops based at Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg in North Caroline took part in Neo-Nazi and White supremacist activities led by the White Patriot Party and KKK to which Army spokespeople responded, “We cannot restrict their freedom of expression, in as much as it does not interfere with their military duty, or violate civilian or military lay” (NYT, 1986).
• Breeding Grounds for Racism
  In 2012 Reuters reported that Neo-Nazi and Skinhead groups were encouraging followers to enlist in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to acquire military skills. A 2005 Department of Defense report states, “Effectively, the military has a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy pertaining to extremism.
• Sexual Assault: Unprecedented and Unreported
  A 2012 Pentagon survey found that approximately 26,000 women and men were sexually assaulted. Of those, only 3,374 cases were reported. In 2013, a new Pentagon report found that 5,061 troops reported cases of assault.
• Mass Rape Goes Unreported and Repressed
  On the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas at least 43 female trainees who went through boot camp from 2009 to 2011 reported being sexually assaulted or raped by 17 male instructors. Service members who report a sexual assault were 12 times more likely to experience some kind of retaliation than they are to see an attacker convicted.
• Racial Thursday: Weekly Dose of Racism
  Still common practice, one day a week, the U.S. Army allows soldiers to use racial slurs and share racist thoughts within their units without consequence. This practice has been dubbed Racial Thursdays.