WNET (Television station : New York, N.Y.) Greaves, William Lathan, Stan

Description

There is discrimination against black servicemen both on and off US military bases overseas, this months Black Journal program concludes. Filmed on location in Vietnam, black servicemen are interviewed in mess halls, USO clubs, on a riverboat in Upper Saigon, and aboard a helicopter. Also interviewed are several high Pentagon officials. One black serviceman testifies, We had soul music (on the base) a couple of nights and they said they didnt dig it so they put me on restriction for disobeying orders and refusing to stop dancing. Its the same off base. You go up in Saigon; down those streets you aint welcome at all and they let you know it. Let a white man walk there, hes welcome but just like the world Georgia, Alabama, even New York, you get some places where you cant go. They bring you over here you know its gonna be hard when you get back. There is even discrimination in front-line combat units. Ive seen a bunch of black guys, a whole bund of them out there. I dont know why they are out there. I go up there, Ill see about 40 men, half of them black. I dont know why the Army does that. I dont think its right, says a soldier. And if the black soldier comes home to more discrimination, what then? One say, If I got back and they tried to treat me like this, Ill pick up a weapon and Ill go down with them even in...

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Library of Congress

Record Harvested From

Digital Commonwealth