Harlem at War: The Black Experience in Wwii [Paperback]

Nat Brandt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This misleadingly titled book concerns not only Harlem but also the experience of all black America during WWII, as well as the political and social conditions that fueled the Harlem riot of 1943, a harbinger of urban riots in the 1960s and beyond. Brandt (Massacre at Shansi) has capably synthesized a broad range of sources and added several interviews to portray a shameful aspect of our not-so-distant past. He first sketches the racial discrimination and economic ills prevalent in New York's largest black community in the 1920s and '30s. Such conditions, duplicated around the country, meant that black Americans were acutely aware of the hypocrisy involved in fighting Nazi Germany while still tolerating Jim Crow?both at home and in the armed forces. In fact, racial clashes took place at military bases, at defense plants and in the cities. A white-on-black riot in Detroit led to a tepid official response. And when a black soldier was shot by a white cop in Harlem, the neighborhood suffered six deaths, nearly 700 injuries and property damage of $5 million. Ending prophetically, Brandt states that the city "is ignoring" Harlem again and "the community is neglected." Photos.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Brandt, a freelance writer, provides a brief and useful overview of African American life during World War II. He focuses on racial disturbances, using the Harlem Riot of 1943 as an extended case study. He argues that such outbreaks were inevitable, given the persistence of racism during a time of alleged national sacrifice and unity. He also sees the Harlem trouble as a precursor of the "commodity" riots of the 1960s, in which angry blacks attacked white-owned stores in the black community. Gracefully written with telling detail, this work will be more helpful to undergraduates and educated lay readers than to specialists in the field of black studies. Recommended for public and academic libraries.?Anthony O. Edmonds, Ball State Univ., Muncie, Ind.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr (Sd) (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815604629
• ISBN-13: 978-0815604624
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #997,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well Done Study, November 10, 2010

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Zdiva "Zdiva" (MA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Harlem at War: The Black Experience in Wwii (Paperback)

Nat Brand does a great job of highlighting the experiences of African Americans in WWII. Although the book uses Harlem and the 1943 Harlem riots as a case study to look at the rest of the country. His detailing of the actual riot and how they came about is useful. It is a very good thing to have studies of particular geographical experiences, particularly, in this case, as seen in Black Harlem. Each person will experience WWII or any other era in their own particular way. The reviewer who gives Brandt one star seems to be very misguided and misunderstanding of this period of American history and the blatant and troubling discrimination against African Americans. Brandt shows that despite this discrimination, and against all odds African Americans served nobly and as true patriots in war time. This is a great addition to the very few other books on African Americans in WWII.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A lot of nothing, June 12, 2009

By 

James W. White (Rochester, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Harlem at War: The Black Experience in Wwii (Paperback)

The treatment of blacks in America has been a blight on the image of the beacon of hope that America has and still hopes to sustain. The discrimination endured by blacks in America prior to and during World War Two differed little from previous generations. In Nat Brandt's "Harlem at War" explores the historical and development of blacks in New York City in that period. Today we can sympathize with the plight of blacks of that era as we as a society have matured beyond the need to judge a man by the color of his skin. We can appreciate the steps taken by people to slip the bonds of oppression held on the blacks, but at the same time must recognize that some of the actions taken by the black community, during a time of war, hindered the American war effort and in doing so aided the Axis forces in their quest for world domination and can only be considered as acts of treason.
One of the prominent men involved with the effort of desegregation of that era was A. Phillip Randolph. Randolph was one of many who suffered during the Depression, that his Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porter's suffered the indignity of being evicted from their national headquarters on 136th Street due to non-payment of rent on their lease while struggling to secure decent wages and work conditions for its members must have had an indelible effect on the man. As early as 1936 Randolph had begun taking a militant stand against the inequalities face in American and he viewed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as a moderate if not futile organization consisting of only a fragment of the black population that was primarily staffed by and for the black middle class. In response to his perception of the lack of ability of the NAACP joined the National Negro Congress (NNC), and organization that represented 585 black groups in 28 states with 1.2 million members, and later headed it for four years. The NNC's efforts would be diminished through the infiltration and eventual accession by the Communist in the organization. Randolph was also instrumental in the formation of the Greater New York Coordinating Committee which was to be an umbrella organization for 200 smaller groups with 15,000 members, unfortunately these groups were engaged in vying for support of Harlem's residents, thus their impact was diluted n there competition. When the Conscription bill was introduced in 1940 Randolph attempted to secure a meeting with President Roosevelt to make his input on the black condition in America a part of the bill. Randolph desired to have a black assigned to the Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of War. It was to his great surprise that even without his input he was quoted by the President's Press Secretary as being in favor of the bill. With the increasing industrial output of America leaping by leaps and bounds in response to America's need to prepare for the coming war, the black community was seen by Randolph as underrepresented in the workforce. In response to this, Randolph planned a 100,000 man march to Washington DC to protest this inequality in front of the Lincoln Memorial. While FDR and others knew that the number of participants was inflated, the concept of so large a protest would undercut the prestige of FDR and so through his wife, Eleanor, Fiorella La Guardia, and Walter White he was able to convince Randolph to cancel the march. FDR did recognize the problems that blacks faced in America, but in spite of his party affiliation, he promulgated Executive Order 8802 which created the Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC), which was lauded as the Second Emancipation Proclamation, whose responsibility was to ensure that opportunities for work were made available to black in the industries that had been contracted for Defense contracts. Randolph would continue to hold the FEPC's feet to the fire ensuring that their purpose was kept relevant. In doing all of this, Randolph conducted a successful fight to end discrimination in the workplace.
The life of the black man in American society was mirrored in the Armed Forces. In the Navy, blacks had been allowed to enlist, but only to work in the galley, while the Marine's (who while a separate service are a part of the Navy. With the enlargement of the Navy the need for manpower increased at an equal rate, and so blacks were accepted, but only in limited roles as Gunners Mates, Quartermasters and Coxswains in addition to their traditional role in the galley. The Army Air Force (AAF) was equal to their reluctance to accept black as their operations were of a technical nature and there was the belief that blacks were unable to accomplish the work required. In spite of this, there was formed a black squadron (the 99th) at Tuskagee, but it was segregated and they were only authorized to fly into bases so designated. The Army had maintained black soldiers for years, but in September of 1940 only one percent of the manpower was black and only five of the officers were black (three of them were chaplains.) With a significant number of officers from the South, a part of the country where the atmosphere of intolerance reigned supreme, enforced the perception that the black man was subhuman and treated as such. Racial epithets directed at them were commonplace, while the lowliest and dirtiest jobs were assigned to the blacks. Even when specialized combat units were organized, they were frequently stripped of equipment and utilized as service troops.
Another person who figures prominently in "Harlem at War" is William Hastie. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Amherst College, went on to receive two law degrees from Harvard and was the first black man appointed a Federal Judge, as well as being the assistant solicitor for the Department of the Interior. Later he became the civilian aide to Secretary of War Stimson. In this later capacity he is known for the draft resolution stating that blacks were not wholeheartedly, unselfishly all out in support of the war effort. In this respect he is known for inciting racial hatred. On a positive note, he is remembered for pushing the Red Cross for the reasons why black blood is not being accepted by them, along with writing "The Integration of the Negro Soldier in the Army." He frequently clashed with General B. Davis and the Inspector Generals office over the positive report on the treatment and morale of black soldiers. Perhaps his best idea was the proposal to ban racial epithets in the service.
The injustice endured on the home front sometimes exceeded what happened in the overseas. During the winter of 1943, when a snow storm blanketed the streets of Seattle, black troops, and only black troops were sent from Fort Lewis to clear the streets. But what happened to civilians was more degrading. In cities throughout the nation vital work production was halted when whites protested the promotion and even the hiring of blacks. White on black violence occurred in Newark, swollen in population due to wartime job needs, and in Mobile ship workers attacked black welders and in both cases the fighting was widespread and lasted for days. This type of tension in the cities became stereotypical that over a hundred thousand of vital work hours were lost all based on racial sectarianism.
Two characters also came into being in Nat Brandt's book and those are Fiorello La Guardia and Adam Clayton Powell. LaGuardia was a liberal man who had attained the position of Mayor of New York City, while Powell was a minister who headed the Abyssinian Baptist Church. While LaGuardia was sympathetic to the plight of the black man he was hindered by the times he lived in. Powell was an ardent supporter for equality and giving his fellow black man a fair shake. The two often clashed due to Powell's constant challenges to LaGuardia to make use of his office to advance the cause of blacks. On issues such as the cities leasing of building to the Navy to house WAVES (Woman Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, which did not accept black women) to the existing discrimination in the municipal hospital system, to newly built housing that would not accept black occupants. LaGuardia, however, while accepting Powell's point of view, simply did not move fast enough for Powell in his counter-discrimination actions and Powell will be best known at LaGuardia's arch-critic.
August 1, 1943, Harlem, Marjorie Polite, a drunk and disorderly black woman, is in the process of being arrested by a James Collins, a white police officer at the Braddock Hotel. Into the picture enters Army Private Robert Bandy and his mother. Pvt Bandy interferes with the arrest of Ms. Polite when she calls out for help claiming she is being attacked by a white police officer. When Pvt Bandy interfered with the arrest, a scuffle broke out between the Private and Police Officer, after Private Brandy grabbed Officer Collins nightstick and stuck him in the head, Private Brandy attempted to flee the scene, but was stopped when shot by Officer Collins. Officer Collins then took Pvt Bandy into custody and escorted him to the nearby hospital. A small crowd had witnessed the altercation, and with the sound of the gunshot, even more gathered. As more people gathered, the telling of what had happened was repeated; the tale grew and was exaggerated until the tale became one where a white police officer had shot and a black soldier who was now dying. Crowds gathered at both the local police precinct and the hospital and the telling of the tale continued, eventually the tale end with the police killing the soldier. Combining previous racial tensions with the rumor of what had transpired, on a hot August night and then with the shattering of a glass bottle igniting the spark of panic, the residents of Harlem were then swept up in an outburst of violence. Typical of riots, the violence spread throughout the community and an orgy of... Read more ›