4 - The Black Vault

"IN
THE BDM CORPORAT11ON
in dapping, by not prohibiting forms of greeting common to other social
groups,
such as the handshake or salute, the Army's action was viewed as
blatantly racist by black soldiers.
Many
blacks have adopted the Islamic religion and not the
unofficial American religion of Christiaitity. Freedom to practice the
Muslim religion was at times denied to its memberi.2/
Black soldiers were denied the freedom of c,1tural expression
in other ways.
Black power rings, slave bracelets, black liberation
flags and carved hlack fists were generally forbidden by commanders on the
grounds that thcse symbols could be offensive to white soldiers.
However,
white ;ymbols that were definitely offensive to blacks, such as the rebel
flag, were seldom prohibited until they causEd a racial incident.
These reyulations were implemented to reduce tenrsior-s
prevent polarization. The effect of the suppression of black cultural
symbclism,
standards.
however, was to force black soldiers to abide by white cultural
d. Other Minorities
extended to other minorities.
The institutional effects encountered by black soldiers also
related to the use of the English language.
and
Most of the problems they encountered were
Because military entrance
examinations and training programs are administered exclusively in English,
many Spanish-speaking servicemen are automatically considered dull and
consigned to the least desirable occupations. This results in the same
kind of promotion and job-assignment prejudices encountered by blacks. The
DoD Task Force also noted that some commanders actually forbid the ute of
any language other than English.
A direct attack on the heritage and
4 culture of Spanish-Americans, such regulations are, in the words of the
Task Force, "an expression of intentional discrimination that should not be
tolerated. "3/
2. Cock County Study v
Curry and Badillo cconducted a comprehensive survey of the casualties
incurred in the Vietnam Conflict by the 101 communitiet of Cook
County, Illinois (this study is reported in more detail in Chapter 1,
5-3