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Blacks In Military Set Tone For Civil Rights Battle

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 11, 2008

The modern civil rights movement can be traced to the early 1940s, when the flood of blacks entering the military after the bombing of Pearl Harbor challenged the unacceptable social norms they found in the South.

That was the case University of South Florida history Professor Gary Mormino made Thursday night at Pasco-Hernando Community College's black history program.

While not discounting the impact of Rosa Parks, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. or the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Mormino argued the seeds of the civil rights movement were planted even earlier.

When the United States entered the war, "Florida was a remote Southern state that rich people came to vacation in the winter," Mormino said. "The Black Belt was along the Interstate 10 connection, especially in Madison, Gadsden, Jefferson, and Leon counties."

For years, the status quo, under which blacks were disenfranchised from many aspects of mainstream society, was maintained through Jim Crow, closed political primaries and unequal pay.

But the war changed Florida considerably.

There were fewer than 2 million people living in the state when Pearl Harbor was attacked; today, there are more than 18 million people living here, and Florida is the fourth-largest state in the nation. Military bases grew from about two in 1940 to almost 200 a couple of years later, including the Zephyrhills airfield.

Growth brought changes for Florida's black population and for the military.

"War creates opportunities for minorities and women," Mormino said.

In 1940, there were no blacks in the Marine Corps or Army Air Corps, and blacks could only serve as cooks in the Navy.

But Dec. 7, 1941, changed things for good and gave black leaders the needed cause to call for an end to discrimination in the military. Mormino said he considered Pearl Harbor to be more significant than 9/11. There was a call for "Double Victory" - a victory against fascism abroad and Jim Crow at home.
Civil rights leaders such as A. Philip Randolph, a Floridian, made headway. In 1948, President Harry Truman desegregated the military.

The large number of blacks entering the military sparked conflict in Southern military towns such as Tampa. Black soldiers from the North did not warm to Jim Crow.

"Northern blacks were used to more fluid race relations," Mormino said. "They were not accustomed to the segregation practices in movie theaters and eating facilities, bars, etc."

Adding race into the already volatile social situation of servicemen hitting bars and chasing women in their off-hours added to the tensions in Southern towns. One Tampa mayor blamed the city's high venereal disease rate on black soldiers, Mormino said.

In one instance, German prisoners of war being held at MacDill Air Force Base protested because they were made to eat in the same cafeteria as blacks. The German soldiers felt they were entitled to the same privileges as any white person in Jim Crow country - to be counted as superiors to the black Americans who were fighting to defeat them.

Since World War II, many blacks in the military have served with distinction at MacDill and other facilities in Florida. They should thank those brave soldiers and community leaders who made it possible for them to have careers in the military. Because of the actions the military took to address the concerns of black personnel in the '40s, today they have the freedom to come and go as they please, without regard to their race.

It's in part because of the contribution that these descendants of former slaves made that the U.S. military is counted among the best in the world.

Imani Asukile, PHCC's district coordinator of multicultural student affairs and equity services, coordinated Mormino's talk. To suggest a future column, e-mail idasukile@yahoo.com.

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