Poscri
miration
Ended in Armed S
ervaces
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By DARREIX GARWOOD
United Press International
WASHINGTON (UPI) - Ask
the Defense department wheth
er racial segregation has been
abolished in the armed services
and the answer is an unquali
fied yes.
Ask whether Negro service
men enjoy equal opportunity for
advancement and the answer is
yes, but with qualifications.
It depends, apparently, on
how intelligent the Negro was
when he enlisted or was draft- j
ed; or whether he had previous- j
ly enjoyed equal opportunity in j
private life; or whether he had j
been denied adequate educa
tion or was held back by local
segregation customs.
President Harry S. Truman
ordered racial barriers abol
ished in the service branches
15 years ago the first such
blow struck for Negro service
men. President Kennedy and
Defense Secretary Robert S.
McNamara now are expanding
the doctrine to off-base commu
nities. Desegregation Kai l
Today, according to Alfred B.
Fitt, deputy assistant secretary
of defense for civil rights, on
base desegregation is fact, not
fancy, though the U.S. Civil
Rights commission takes some
exception to that. It reported
recently that Negro servicemen
were still meeting a little on
base discrimination.
On whether the Negroes are
getting an equal chance for ad
vancement, Fitt, 40-year-old
Yale graduate from Michigan,
ha', a different answer. In sub-
RECREATION AREA DISAPPEARING house on dry land. So far in 1963 the Dallas
White Rock Lake, once the water supply for weather bureau has recorded only 13.90 inches
Dallas, Texas, but now a recreation area, is of rain through September. Normal rainfall
slowly shrinking, the victim of a prolonged for that period is 26.48 inches. There has been
drought. The lake was 4 ' i feet below spillway no rainfall in October. (UPI)
level. The receding shoreline left this boat-
SECTION D
MedfordH&JTribune
stance, it was that We oppor
tunity is there if the Negro is
qualified.
"Where qualifications are
equal in the junior and non
commissioned officer ranks,"
he said in a UPI interview,
"Our studies indicate that Ne
groes are advancing as rapidly
as whites.
"We have to lake the man
as he comes to us. If he had 18
or 20 years of unequal oppor
tunity before entering the serv
ice this is bound, in the aver
age case, to make it harder for
him."
It is a fact that few Negroes
qualify for military service.
They number only 8.2 per cent
of the 2.7 million defense forces.
Those accepted do not neces
sarily have equal qualifications.
Few Negro Officers
President Kennedy's commit
tee on equal opportunity in the
armed forces emphasized that
statistical discrepancy in a re
port last summer. It said Ne
groes comprise only two-tenths
of one per cent of the officers
in the Navy and Marine corps,
and 3.2 and 1.2 per cent, re
spectively, in the Army and Air
Force.
Fitt said this was due in part
to the fact that only is years
have passed since H uman s
historic order. But it also is
true that the percentage of Ne
groes receiving appointments to
the service academies West
Point, Annapolis and Colorado
Springs is but a raindrop in a
big ocean.
Fitt's primary job is to
achieve equal opportunity for
all members of the defense
forces under a directive issued
by McNamara last July 26.
The emphasis has now swung
to off-base discrimination a
new and delicate field for the
military.
In his order, McNamara di
rected hundreds of command
ers to submit reports on off
base racial barriers. They were
warned that segregation any
where damages a soldier's mor
ale and military potential and
"They should oppose such prac
tices on every occasion.'1
Vinson Protests
This brought outraged cries
from southern members of con
gress who feared communities
in their district might be placed
"off limits" for while and Ne
gro troops alike. Chairman Carl
Vinson (D-Ga.)v of the House
Armed Services committee and
one of the most influential men
in Congress, introduced a bill
calling for court-martial of any
commander who enforces such
a rule.
Filt emphasized that sharp
restrictions had been placed on
the use of such authority.
"I want to make it entirely
clear thai the defense depart
ment is not seeking to desegre
gate civilian communities; we
just ask that they stop discrimi
nating against servicemen," he
said. "I think we have a reas
onable program. When a man
is in service and has no choice
over where he's stationed, I've
never found anyone yet who
didn't think he should have
equal treatment hut the fact of
the matter is that many of
them don't get equal treatment
now."
McNamara's directive said a
commander "shall not, except
with prior approval of the secre-,
tary of his military department,
use the off-limits sanction in j
discrimination cases." The
order said elsewhere that
"every military commander has j
the responsibility to oppose dis- j
criminatory practices affecting i
his men ... in nearby commu
nities where they may live or
gather in off-duty hours."
Report off-Base
On Oct. 2 the Defense depart
ment issued another directive.
This one asked the commanders
to report off-base discrimination !
in detail so the department can
obtain "necessary information
for the formulation of future
policy."
All answers must be in by
Nov. 8.
A typical question was wheth-
; cr white and Negro military
! dependent children ride in sep
j arate school buses or; "Do
I white and Negro personnel
have equal opportunity (or ade
quate housing oil-base:
These subjects also highlight
ed" the U.S. Civil Rights com
mission report. It said the Ne
gro faces the traditional pat
terns of segregation off his
post. It added:
"These practices in housing,
education and public and rec
reational facilities arc galling
reminders that second-class
citizenship has not been eradi
cated, and have a detrimental
impact on military morale and
efficiency."
Critical of Navy
The report was more critical
of the Navy, saying it used
fewer Negro enlisted men and
officers than the Army and Air
Force and assigned them less
frequently to clerical, technical
and skilled occupations than in
civilian life.
The commission said that on
the whole, the armed forces had
made "great progress" in af
fording equal opportunity to Ne
groes but it added: "This prog
ress has not been uniform, and
areas remain which require
prompt corrective action on the
part of the defense depart
ment."
Fitt said he hoped the off
limit rule will never have to be
applied, and he believes there
is a good chance that will be
the case. He said that within
the services, soldiers, sailors
and airmen from the Deep
South present no special prob
lem in desegregation.
To dale, the Defense depart
ment has reported no major in
stances of white and Negro
racial clashes in the defense
forces.
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