Customer Reviews

The Right To Fight: A History Of African Americans In The Military

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The subject that Gerald Astor has chosen to write about, depicts the continuing saga of a group of people that has been the subject of more studies then any other group in America. In a methodical and comprehensive manner the author gives us a chronological history of Black American and historic accomplishments of the black soldier. From the American Revolution to the Persian Gulf Astor paints a picture through interview and analysis that cuts away the bias that has been the hall mark of the manner that this subject has heretofore been treated. His anecdotal passages add a sense of the social and cultural times that are germain to the periods of history he writes about. The story of the first American Hero, Sgt Henry Johnson of Albany NY in WWI and the Montford Point Marines in WWII are of exceptional importance in this work. All to often these men and their significant contribution that helps to keep the fabric of America strong are grossly overlooked! This book is a must for African American HIstory, Military History and American History buff's in general.

This is a readable and graphic history, mostly from the vantage point of the common soldier. Politics in the larger sense are frequently neglected. A glaring example of this neglect is the brief and flippant coverage of President Harry Truman's actual order to desegregate the US Armed Forces, the Executive Order 9981, issued in July of 1948. This seems to me to have been the single most important event in the entire saga, yet the author dismisses Truman in three pages, mostly quoting old letters which demonstrate, surprise! that GiveEmHell Harry used coarse language (in private) when talking about racial demographics, as he did when talking about everything else (in private). Readers who are looking for an account of what led up to this decision, which Truman knew could lose the Deep South in the tight upcoming election * will need to look elsewhere. The book "Foxholes and color lines : desegregrating the U.S. Armed Forces", by Sherie Mershon and Steven Schlossman (John Hopkins, 1998) has an entire chapter on this decision which so infuriated the white South and proved to be so important in the Civil Rights era.
Another deficiency, unfortunately not unusual these days, is the complete lack of notes. There is a bibliography, but who knows where a particular fact may have come from?
A good resource, but far from comprehensive.

* he did lose the Deep South; four states to a fellow who, though he was sworn to uphold the rule of law, was known to invite adversaries in public debate out onto the street to settle their differences, and, though not officially taking an oath to do so, loudly proclaimed that he would fight with all his might against "mixing", as it was then called, forbidden interaction that could ultimately lead to miscegenation. As it happened, the wowser who gained South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi (plus an anomalous single Electoral Vote in Tennessee) but, to history's gratitude, lost the United States, had himself been guilty of miscegenation. With progeny to prove it.

This book was needed for a class. I have found it to be a great dipiction of African American history. If you need a great source for research, this would be it.

The book seems thorough and incredibly detailed but it was dry and not very engaging. Also, while clearly Astor has done lots of research, there are no footnotes or indications of where the research in a given chapter comes from (although there is a bibliography at the end). The book follows the individual stories of lots of soldiers across the centuries, but instead of drawing me in, it just felt scattered.

Given the current election results, it is pretty amazing to find out that it wasn't really until the 1970's that the military made a concentrated effort to integrate systematically across all the forces. And to hear of the kind of discrimination still rampant in the Vietnam and Korean war is a reminder of how ground breaking Obama's win is.
I have been looking for a book that discusses more the tension for the African American soldier historically given his place in a predominantly racist America and fighting for that country. Buffalo soldiers even as fiction doesn't do a very good job of this.