Hidden Heroism: Black Soldiers In America's Wars [Paperback]

Robert Edgerton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2002

In Hidden Heroism, Robert Edgerton investigates the history of Afro-American participation in American wars, from the French and Indian War to the present. He argues that blacks in American society have long-suffered from a "natural coward" stereotype that is implicit in the racism propagated from America's earliest days, and often intensified as blacks slowly received freedom in American society. For instance, blacks served admirably in various wars, returned home after their service to short-term recognition, and then soon found themselves even more seriously entrenched in a racist system because they were perceived as a threat to whites. This was true, Edgerton argues, until the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam, though the stereotypes have not been fully eradicated. In this book, Edgerton provides an accessible and well-informed tour through this little-known, but significant aspect of race in American military history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Differing from such standard works as Bernard Nalty's Strength for the Fight (1986) and Gerald Astor's The Right to Fight (1999), this generalist's history focuses on debunking the most controversial aspect of its subject: the racist argument that African-Americans were natural cowards, unwilling and unable to meet the demands of the battlefield. This "American exceptionalism," according to Edgerton, is best interpreted as arising from a long-standing fear of black uprisings, originating in the slaveholding South and spreading northwards after the Civil War, despite a post-Civil War corps of black professionals that served with pride of regiment and pride of race. In the two World Wars, a white-dominated military culture not only insisted that blacks could not fight, but denied them training for combat. It is scarcely surprising that some victims of the stereotype lived down to it, while others rose above it. Edgerton intriguingly takes account of civilian riots, and the armed forces' recent success in drastically reducing institutional racism in a relatively short period of time. Throughout, the book is carefully argued and documented, although reliant on secondary sources. And if its subject now feels like something of a straw man, all the better. (Feb.)Forecast: Public and university libraries will be a lock for this title, as will the African-American studies market. Yet Edgerton's accessible style will make it appealing to buffs as well as to regular readers of history. In order for it to reach them, booksellers will have to be able to see beyond Westview's academic focus.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Edgerton chronicles black heroism in every U.S. conflict since the Revolutionary War, recalling the little-known Buffalo Soldiers and the Negro cavalry that saved Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders in Cuba and a pantheon of black heroes--obscure and famous--from Benjamin Banneker to Colin Powell. Despite the legendary bravery of African warriors in Islamic and even early European colonial conflict, blacks were maligned as cowards, a charge leveled to support white supremacist notions, which officially stifled black military service until the Korean War. Racial hatred fostered such injustices as the lynching of black soldiers from the Civil War through the end of World War I, the brutal mistreatment of black soldiers in Europe and the U.S, and the blatant contradiction of having blacks fight for freedom abroad while being subjected to racism at home. Edgerton places the wars and conflicts in the context of broader social, political, and cultural changes in the U.S. Finally, he examines the current overrepresentation of blacks in the military and the complexities that that presents for any military conflicts in Africa and the Caribbean. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 16 and up
  
• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; First Trade Paper Edition edition (November 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081334025X
• ISBN-13: 978-0813340258
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #751,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book on Military History and American Culture, November 8, 2001

By 

SWilliams (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hidden Heroism: Black Soldiers In America's Wars (Hardcover)

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in understanding the contribution of African-American in U.S. wars. I am a former Army officer and an African-American. Until I read this book I never knew the extent that African-American's heroism despite being oppressed by their fellow soldiers and civilians. I appreciate Mr. Edgerton's efforts in researching facts that where previously forgotten or otherwise went untold for many year.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Edgerton inexcusably omits the Army's 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, among the most storied black combat units in WWII, August 16, 2006

By 

QuintBy (Shingle Springs, Mn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hidden Heroism: Black Soldiers In America's Wars (Paperback)

In writing a book which attempts to cover all of the history of black soldiers in "America's Wars", obviously not every black combat unit can be mentioned much less discussed. But here, Edgerton purports to recognize the "hidden heroism" of America's black soldiers. That he has failed in his book to uncover the astounding WWII combat accomplishments of the US Army's 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA)(colored[sic]) Battalion provides evidence that even now, where the combat record of a combat-specialized all-black Battalion surpassed the record of comparable white units, those records remain "hidden" -- very deeply hidden. But even the fact that the number of attacking German warplanes which the 452nd shot down as confirmed "kills" - 68 -- exceeds that of any white AAA Battalion operating in the European Theater is just the tip of the "hidden" iceberg.

But little can be totally "hidden" in these days of online research, and Edgerton would have found the 452nd's record in bits and pieces throughout the Internet if he had bothered to try. Maybe he will next time.

5.0 out of 5 stars A must READ!, May 24, 2011

By 

mikluke - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hidden Heroism: Black Soldiers In America's Wars (Paperback)

This is a must read for all men and women of the Armed Forces, especially African Americans. If there is any question of the service,sacrifice, and loyalty of the African man and woman to this country over the years here is the answer. This is history that should be told over and over again. Very eye opening.