Black troops in World War II: A letter from 1942 taught Long Island kids about the 'glaring contradiction' of their treatment

In 1942, James G. Thompson of Wichita, Kansas, addressed a letter to the editor of The Pittsburgh Courier with a simple question.

While working in the cafeteria of a local defense plant, Thompson, then 26, saw a "glaring contradiction" of how Black troops — who fought and put their lives on the line for the United States during World War II — were denied recognition and promised opportunities for their efforts upon arriving home, compared to their white counterparts, Museum of American Armor historian Nicholas Casseus said.

At the Armor Museum’s Black History Month program on Wednesday, Casseus said the question at the heart of Thompson’s letter, "Should I sacrifice to live half-American?" would go onto resonate with thousands of readers in the African American newsletter and originated the "Double V" national campaign, which denounced both fascism in Europe and racism in the United States.

Casseus used Thompson’s letter as a prime example of how the modern civil rights movement was birthed during World War II.

"How could I fight for a country that was unwilling to fight for me?" Casseus, summarizing Thompson’s letter, said. "How could I serve and liberate towns across Europe and the Pacific, meanwhile, I can't even drink out of the same water fountain."

Various humanitarians, educators and military veterans spoke during the program to 50 Academy Charter School students, Jewish veterans and community members about the crucial roles more than 1 million African American soldiers played in World War II, the hypocrisy of the racism they faced, and the importance of learning their history.

Lorna Lewis, a pioneer educator who became the first woman of color to preside over the New York State Council of School Superintendents, spoke to students about how that hypocrisy dated to long before WW I, noting that WW I soldiers were lynched for wearing their uniforms after they had left the military.

"We are living in a moment when some would prefer that our students learn a version of America that is easy, uncomplicated and unchallenged," Lewis said. "But history — real history — is not meant to comfort us. It is meant to teach us. It is meant to sharpen our moral judgment. It is meant to remind us of who we have been so we can decide what we must become."

Many Black veterans were also denied benefits from the GI Bill, which provided WW II veterans with  wide-ranging benefits, including financial compensation for education and home purchases, she said.

The remnants of this racism seeped close to home in more recent times, Lewis said, noting that Levittown, which was created for returning veterans and their families, originally prohibited people of color from moving in.

"These injustices are not just personal betrayal, they’re structural betrayal," Lewis said. "It shaped the racial wealth gaps that persist today."

Retired Col. Jason Halloren, former deputy commandant of West Point, said that although soldiers of color were forced to serve in segregated units and often assigned to support roles across the European and Pacific theaters, they "engineered their way" into armored units under combat conditions. He noted the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military pilots in the United States Armed Forces, as one example.

"Their performance challenged the prevailing assumptions about race and combat effectiveness and provided evidence that segregation was not based on military necessity," Halloren said. "Yet they stood their posts and their service, requested a commitment to a nation that did not yet fully recognize their quality."

Eric Spinner, 82, of New Hyde Park, was one of the Long Island Jewish war veterans who attended the program in solidarity against bigotry and prejudice. He told students of the first time he experienced segregation in the late 1950s, when his family took the train from New York to Miami for a vacation. Spinner, who was 14 at the time, quickly befriended a Black gentleman, but was confused when the man got up to change seats minutes before the train passed the Mason-Dixon line, along the Pennsylvania- Maryland border, demarcating the social and legal boundaries for Jim Crow segregation.

"We've come a long way from there, but we haven't come all the way to where we need to be," Spinner said. "I say that both as a Jew, as an American, and as a brother to my Black brothers and sisters ... we must remember our history."

At the end of the program, students were invited to come to the front and sign their names on an enlarged canvas of President Harry Truman’s 1948 executive order to desegregate the military as a permanent reminder of how far civil rights have come.

Isiah Lemus, 13, said he had been unaware of the executive order.

"We are the future of America," Lemus said. “(It) makes you feel good that it's being shed light on ... so that more people are able to learn about this."