Black Veterans Served Their Country With Honor. Why Doesn’t America Act Like It?

Despite Black people being overrepresented in military service, Black vets have historically been undervalued compared to their white peers. For Memorial Day, Kyle Bibby, co-founder of the Black Veterans Project, spoke with NewsOne about the history of Black veterans and the struggles they still face today.

“I think for the Black American experience, specifically, we have seen military service sometimes as a way to demonstrate the investment that we’re willing to make in this nation,” Bibby says. “Even despite its shortcomings.” 

Military service has long been seen as a way for Black people to show their value to this country. “Right around World War I, W. E. B DuBois was very adamant about Black men volunteering for units like the Harlem Hellfighters to go fight in World War I, under the belief that if we demonstrate our willingness to sacrifice for this country, there would be an ethical need for the country to grant us the rights we always deserved and always should’ve had,” Bibby explains. 

Sadly, as we all know, it didn’t exactly play out that way. Despite hundreds of thousands of Black men serving in World War I, when they came home, they were still faced with the same violence and racism they experienced before the war. “The service didn’t seem to matter much at all,” Bibby says. 

In fact, during the Red Summer of 1919, Black veterans were punished for simply acknowledging their service. “Numerous Black veterans were lynched for daring to wear their uniform or expect more rights,” Bibby explains. “A lot of turmoil and civil strife took place in communities with Black veterans also fighting back, including armed conflict with white mobs coming into their communities.” 

This ultimately led to the U.S. military being resistant to drafting Black service members during WWII, which Bibby believes is due to the country not being willing to reconcile the fact that it was denying equal rights to a group of people who served their country honorably. “There was a level of contradiction and real shame that the country still refused to reckon with that in any sort of meaningful way,” Bibby explains. 

The struggle has not improved in the years since. According to the Black Veterans’ Protect, denied benefits have cost Black vets $100 billion since World War II; white vets hold 32 times more wealth than Black vets; and 53% of minority vets have seen white nationalism or ideologically driven racism among their fellow troops. When faced with those numbers, it’s easy to understand why Bibby, a Black vet himself, says he struggles with Black people continuing to serve in the military. 

“Sometimes at my core, I have a deep resentment for how Black veterans are treated and how it feels like we’re moving into a new cycle of having our benefits questioned and denied,” Bibby says in the video. 

So this Memorial Day, remember the sacrifices that Black vets made not only to protect this country, but to give Black people the rights we have always been entitled to. 

SEE ALSO:

10 Ways To Honor & Thank Black Veterans For Their Service

Black Soldiers Post-Civil War

The Black History Behind Memorial Day