Blacks in America's Wars: The Shift in Attitudes from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam

Reader's Comment: Blacks in America's Wars, by Robert W. MullenU.S. Wars and the Black StruggleFor serious students of U.S. and world history, African-American Studies, and participants in the class struggle to end oppression, this book is must reading.The author reviews Black participation in U.S. wars from the Revolutionary War through Vietnam. Blacks have always had to fight racism as well as declared enemies. Mullen describes how escaped slaves served under the command of a slave owner, George Washington, during the Revolutionary War against England. Initially the U.S. returned ex-slaves to their owners. That changed only when the British promised to free slaves who joined their side.Two wars in which African-Americans played a decisive role were the Civil War and World War II. Both wars ushered in gigantic changes for the U.S., Black people in the U.S., and the situation of the U.S. in the world. The Civil War was the last progressive war waged by the U.S. government, as it ended slavery. In contrast, World War II signaled the triumph of U.S. imperialism over its capitalist rivals. Mullen analyzes how Blacks seized upon the hypocrisy of U.S. rulers' stated aims and stepped up the fight against racism both within the Armed Forces and society as a whole, giving rise to the Civil Rights movement. Coupled with the rise of the colonial revolution, the liberation struggle grew, drastically improving conditions for Blacks in the U.S.

A concise overview of Afro-American participation and attitudes towards military service, both volunteer and by forced conscription, in two-centuries of U.S. wars. I didn?t know a lot of the specific facts, especially about early wars from the 1776 American Revolution on, until I read this book.. Mullen starts from the reality of Afro-Americans in U.S. society, from slavery to Jim Crow segregation, to today?s racist oppression. I found especially interesting his discussion of the attitudes of Afro-Americans towards serving in the U.S. military, at times hoping that combat service would help them win equality at home, and later, especially during the 1950s and 1960s, growing opposition to U.S. wars. Also the discussion of the long-standing efforts to fight segregation and discrimination within the military. Mullen?s coverage of the views of different leaders of the civil rights and Black power movements of the 1960s towards the U.S. war in Vietnam is well worth reviewing today. Don?t miss the many photos and illustrations: they certainly help bring the issues and struggles covered here vividly to life.