Democracy (noun) – The belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves. — Cambridge Dictionary
Over a hundred years ago W.E.B. Dubois asked if one could be black and an American. He saw this “twoness” as perhaps the central issue affecting all Africans in America. Personally, I also feel a unique identity crisis: being black and a military veteran.
The First World War officially ended on November 11, 1918. This was the first of the global wars that literally changed the world forever. Regimes fell, country boundaries were redrawn, and the subsequent animosity over the perceived humiliation of everything German ultimately led to the rise of the Nazi Party and its enigmatic leader, Adolf Hitler.
Europe fell into chaos in the summer of 1914 after the death of Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Within weeks familial European allies reaffirmed their commitment to each other. The U.S. watched in amazement at the speed with which countries armed themselves for battle. President Woodrow Wilson immediately declared American neutrality in what was initially perceived as a strictly “European” war. Privately, he reaffirmed American familial ties with England and France.
What is most disturbing to me is the rationale given by Wilson for eventual American involvement in 1917. He said American involvement was necessary to make the world “safe for democracy.” Democracy?
The hypocrisy is offensive. Democracy implies that everyone is equal, that everyone has the same rights to the privileges of society. History knows that blacks were suffering mightily under the oppression of Jim Crow. More specifically, history knows that Wilson initiated the segregation of federal offices in Washington D.C. It was Wilson who enjoyed a private White House viewing of D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, a racist interpretation of the Civil War and Reconstruction where blacks were mere pawns of Northern politicians. The reappearance of the Ku Klux Klan during the WWI era is well known. The racism and violence inflicted upon the black community after WWI are also well known. Make the world “safe for democracy”?
Blacks throughout the country enlisted in segregated military units hoping to prove their commitment to this so-called democracy only to return home to violence and bigotry. The images of black men lynched in uniform is an embarrassment to this democracy (?). And yet neither political party had the courage to protect the black veterans that risked their lives in European trench warfare only to die at the hands of those whose freedoms they fought to protect. Make the world “safe for democracy”?
We know the black middle-class was built on military service. The desegregation of the military by President Harry Truman after WWII led to steady pay and healthcare and became the economic foundation of the black middle-class of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Today, blacks continue to serve and give the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedoms. Even though I never served in a combat environment, I understood from the moment I first raised my and pledged to defend this Constitution from all enemies that I would follow any lawful commands given to me by a superior officer. Even if that command would lead to my eventual death. I wore the uniform proudly, just as my father before me, and his father before him.
However, don’t for a moment believe that I don’t see the hypocrisy hiding in plain sight in our so-called democracy. The sacrifices of the black community for a society that inconsistently recognizes their very humanity is troubling and has been so since the American Revolution.
Nonetheless, one hundred years ago the guns of war fell silent in Europe. While that silence was only temporary, those who sacrificed for democracy deserve to be recognized, respected and revered. Likewise, those who sacrificed for democracy after returning home to that democracy also deserve to be recognized, respected and revered. It now becomes the obligation of those who know and understand to teach those who don’t know or understand.
See you soon.
PS. Still waiting on those promised tax returns.