Harlem Hell Fighters: A Story that Needs to be Told

For the first time in history, an African American is poised to assume the role of U.S. Secretary of Defense.

It is worthy to note the shameful segregated history of Blacks serving honorably in America’s armed forces over centuries while not being accorded equal civil rights in this country.

As much as racism has been an impediment to equality in American life, the construct of “Caste,” as described by Isabel Wilkerson in her recent best-selling book, has remained a more intractable force in America’s slowly receding, centuries-old, irrational codified rules and social covenants designed to “keep the Black man in his place” and sustain racial segregation. It was not until 1948 that Executive Order 9981 was signed by President Harry S. Truman to desegregate the U.S. Armed Services.

As a nation, we presently face a great existential crisis evinced in part by a great partisan divide. Many demographers and social scientists suggest that White anxiety, evinced by the emergent upward mobility of people of color, has caused a deep “White backlash.” Oddly, the cult-like support of Trump loyalists represents a significant swath of America’s electorate. Albeit, they are not the majority of voters, but they are perceived by many astute observers as at the heart of resistance to the notion of full equality of opportunity for Black fellow citizens and other people of color. We, as Americans, however, “Shall Overcome.” It starts with truth telling, and the story of the Harlem Hell Fighters is one that needs to be told and taught in our schools.