(2) The committee met three times before unanimously deciding in December, 1941 that “.the enlistment of Negroes (other than as mess attendants) leads to disruptive and undermining conditions” as well as “.a limited number of qualified Negroes could be enlisted for duty on some types of patrol or other small vessel assigned to a particular yard or station.” (2)Ī calculated rebuttal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on 7 December, 1941 took a stand against the decision and pressed President Roosevelt and Navy Secretary Knox for reconsideration. (Can link to the LOC document) The new legislation stated “any person, regardless of race or color.shall be afforded an opportunity to volunteer for.the land and naval forces of the United States.” (5) Navy Secretary William Franklin (Frank) Knox assembled a small team of advisers to investigate the United States Marine Corps and United States Navy to distinguish fit for Black Americans’ servitude. Roosevelt enacted the Nation’s first peacetime draft by signing into law the Selective Training and Service Act.

By 16 September, 1940 President Franklin D. (1) Notably, the Black enlisted personnel were strictly coal heavers, cooks, messmen, or stewards therefore holding no skilled positions or positions of authority. A total of only 4,007 personnel in the entire Navy were Black Americans in June, 1940. (4) In June, 1940 the Navy began its debate of increasing their enlistments by evaluating their exclusionary policies. In general, the Navy did not recruit Black Americans following 1922.

The fight for equality and representation for Black men in the armed forces was two-fold: one where the men in service uniforms were proving their worth and capabilities to be more than just that of messmen, and one where their families, friends, and allies were using media and organizing to demand more from the federal government.Īs the United States began to strategize less military isolationism and more action against Italy, Japan, and Germany they looked at the number-strength of their men in uniform.

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