Mastodawn

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

Exactly 75 years ago, President Harry S. Truman repudiated 170 years of officially sanctioned discrimination when he signed Executive Order 9981, calling for desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces. This event marked the first time a U.S. commander in chief used executive order to implement a civil rights policy, inspiring America to embrace desegregation in the future.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

[Warning: Some language may be offensive]

Harry Truman's journey to signing Executive Order No. 9981 involved overcoming his deeply ingrained racial prejudices. Initially, he wasn't a champion of Black Americans, but his transformation from a segregationist to a civil rights advocate was truly astonishing.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

Born on May 8, 1884, nearly two decades after the Civil War's end, Truman grew up in a segregated town in Missouri, once a pro-slavery state. Both sides of his family were connected to slavery, with grandparents who owned slaves. His mother, Martha Ellen Young, held a strong dislike for President Abraham Lincoln.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

Truman's upbringing shaped his perspective, influenced by his mother's beliefs and the prevailing views of the South regarding the War Between the States and Reconstruction. He spent his early years in Missouri, where segregation was accepted without much questioning, and, again, his grandparents from both sides had owned slaves.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco

Living in this former slave state, the small-town rural environment was marked by segregation and subordination for many citizens. Black residents faced segregation in their living arrangements, schooling, and access to stores. In his early letters, young Harry Truman openly acknowledged his prejudices against Black and Asian Americans, reflecting on his background and views at that time.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

In a June 22, 1911 love letter to his future wife, Bess Wallace, 27 year old Truman, serving as a corporal in the Missouri National Guard, penned a letter to his future wife, Bess Wallace.

“I think one man is just as good as another so long as he’s honest and decent and not a nigger or a Chinaman…”

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/truman-papers/correspondence-harry-s-truman-bess-wallace-1910-1919/june-22-1911

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June 22, 1911 | Harry S. Truman

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

Truman's transformation, from farm boy raised by Confederate sympathizers to U.S. president who signed the order to desegregate the armed forces is vividly traceable in his letters and memoirs.

“ I am strongly of the opinion that negros (sic) ought to be in Africa, yellow men in Asia and white men in Europe and America.” Truman wrote in the same 1911 letter to his future wife.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

From the same letter:

“Uncle Will says that the Lord made a white man from dust, a nigger from mud, and then threw what was left and it came down a Chinaman. He does hate Chinese and Japs. So do I. It is race prejudice I guess. But I am strongly of the opinion that negroes ought to be in Africa, yellow men in Asia, and white men in Europe and America.”

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

During Truman's tenure as a U.S. Senator, he composed a letter to his daughter, Margaret, dated April 7, 1937. In the letter, he recounted a dinner at the White House with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, unfortunately using a derogatory name to refer to the black waitstaff.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

“They gave a real good meal at the taxpayers[’] expense — tomato soup, fillet of flounder, roast turkey, string beans, pineapple salad, chocolate ice cream and cake, candy and little cafe noir afterwards.”

“All these things were in courses, deftly placed and removed by an army of coons..”

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/truman-papers/correspondence-harry-s-truman-margaret-truman-1927-1964/april-7-1937?documentid=NA&pagenumber=1

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April 7, 1937 | Harry S. Truman

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

On August 4, 1939, two years later, Truman wrote to his wife from Washington.

“Well this is nigger picnic day. But they don’t have ’em like they did in days past. I remember once going to Washington Park with our washwoman to a Fourth of August celebration. I’ll never forget it. Had chicken and catfish fried in corn meal and was it good!”

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/truman-papers/correspondence-harry-s-truman-bess-wallace-truman-1921-1959/august-4-1939

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August 4, 1939 | Harry S. Truman

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

Truman's beliefs were deeply influenced by his upbringing in Missouri. The state had a troubling history, with 60 recorded cases of Black American lynchings between 1877 and 1950, ranking it second-highest among states outside the Deep South during that period.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

Growing up, Truman was exposed to a home environment that openly disdained abolitionism, Reconstruction, and even President Abraham Lincoln. He absorbed these sentiments from an early age, learning them at his mother's side.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

As a result, Truman embraced a strong belief in white supremacy. When he secured the position of FDR’s running mate in the 1944 DNC with help from Southerners, AL Gov Chauncey Sparks proudly celebrated their success, Sparks bellowed:

“The South has won a substantial victory. … In the matter of race relations Senator Truman told me he is the son of an unreconstructed rebel mother.”

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

However, various mediating forces began to have an impact on Truman. His service as an officer in World War I and his post-war business interactions with a Jewish partner played a role in broadening his perspectives. As 1940 approached and he campaigned for re-election to the US Senate, it became evident that his viewpoint had matured.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

In a speech in Sedalia, Missouri, he said:

“I believe in the brotherhood of man, not merely the brotherhood of white men, but the brotherhood of all men before law. I believe in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. In giving the Negroes the rights which are theirs, we are only acting in accord with our own ideals of a true democracy.”

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

In 1940, Black-Americans constituted nearly 10 percent of the entire U.S. population, amounting to 12.6 million people out of a total of 131 million. During World War II, the Army emerged as the nation's largest employer of minorities.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

Out of the 2.5 million Black-American males who registered for the draft by December 31, 1945, more than one million were inducted into the armed forces. Additionally, numerous Black women volunteered and served in all branches of the military and across various theaters of operations during the war.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

To address complaints about discrimination against Black Americans at home during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 in June 1941. The order aimed to ensure Black Americans' acceptance into job-training programs in defense plants, prohibit discrimination by defense contractors, and establish a Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC).

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

Throughout history, Black Americans had served in the U.S. military, but their largest deployment occurred during World War II.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

By December 31, 1945, over 2.5 million Black Americans had registered for the military draft, and with many Black American women volunteering, the U.S. Armed Forces became the foremost employer of Black people.

Following Roosevelt's passing on April 12, 1945, now President Truman assumed responsibility for concluding World War II and allowed Congress to terminate the FEPC.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

By the war's end, approximately 900,000 Black Americans had served in various military branches and the Army Nurse Corps. Upon returning home, these Black WWII veterans were eligible for benefits like a free college education under the GI Bill of 1944, but pervasive discrimination hindered their access to these benefits.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

Also upon their return, Black veterans encountered violence in America. In 1946, an appalling incident occurred in Georgia, where a mob shot and killed 2 Black men and their wives, with no one brought to trial for the crime. In South Carolina, police subjected Army Sergeant Isaac Woodard to a brutal beating with night sticks after pulling him from a bus, leaving him permanently blind.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

Similar to his predecessor Abraham Lincoln, Truman believed in white supremacy and made racist remarks to those close to him. Nevertheless, he was a shrewd politician who recognized the significance of the Black vote for his political success.

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Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 29, 2023

He anlso expressed sympathy towards Black soldiers who faced mistreatment upon their return from World War II.

“My stomach turned over when I learned that Negro soldiers, just back from overseas, were being dumped out of army trucks in Mississippi and beaten.”

“Whatever my inclinations as a native of Missouri might have been, as president I know this is bad. I shall fight to end evils like this.”

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Bunnyjadwiga Jul 30, 2023

@Deglassco it always seemed to me that the violence against black veterans, especially the Isaac Woodard case, was what really changed his behavior. Truman's experiences in WWI seem to have left him with strong loyalty to veterans.

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 30, 2023

@bunnyjadwiga yes, that’s right. He had a special affinity for military veterans because he was one. He could empathize with the plight of black soldiers more than he could with the predicament of average Black people.

@billclassified Jul 29, 2023

@Deglassco Holy shit! I picked up at item 21 and read item 22 and thought to myself Jesus H Christ I've got to read back items 20/1 with a lot of emotion. It's hard to embrace Truman, but I'm thankful for his transformation. Great thread.

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 30, 2023

@billjurgensen 🙏

@billclassified Jul 30, 2023

@Deglassco ❤s with so much left to say, I found myself at a loss for words to reflect all the frustration and disappointment about his growing up there in Missouri where my parents warned me - Will, they're not like us.

Yudhvir Jul 29, 2023

@Deglassco if that is true, then why do white people hate them?

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 30, 2023

@savera prejudice and bigotry.

Patty A. Gray Jul 29, 2023

Thank god he outgrew being the dipsh*t son of a rebel mother.

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 30, 2023

@Pattyagray indeed. I believe his mother stayed an unreconstructed rebel to the end.

Patty A. Gray Jul 29, 2023

Argh……

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 30, 2023

@Pattyagray yes, it can be disturbing, but it’s important to put people in the context of their environment and time and not to sugarcoat it.

Patty A. Gray Jul 30, 2023

I deleted several half-written sentences after that argh because they pointed to my own past experience. Didn’t want to draw focus to that. I totally agree with you, no sugar-coating. I heard plenty of that language and more in high school in Nashville. It was an integrated school. I had just been moved there from a lily-white town in the northeast. On the upside, I never would have interacted with that many Black folks if we hadn’t moved. On the down side…

Patty A. Gray Jul 30, 2023

…on the down side, all the White kids assumed I shared their assumptions about color. I heard conversations meant only for White ears. That was my real education, beyond the classroom. I learned the Civil War had *never* ended, because these kids and their parents were still forging ahead with a rebel yell. I got out of there the minute I graduated. Oh-and sexism. It was racism and sexism all the way down. Taught me a lot.

Love your posts.

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 30, 2023

@Pattyagray thank you for sharing your experience. We are all learning from each other.