Precious few books address or do justice to the role of African
Americans in the evolution and development of the most powerful
democracy in history, the United States of America. Even less attention
has been paid by historians to the role and contributions of African
American soldiers, sailors and airmen in providing for the security of
that democracy.
Colonel Michael Lanning’s book, The African-American Soldier: From
Crispus Attucks to Colin Powell, will make a major contribution to
filling that void. Indeed, his book will go a long ways toward
correcting major distortions – some of them by historians whose
omissions were deliberate attempts to discredit or devalue the
historical contributions of African American military men and women.
Lanning traces the participation of African American military men
and women in every major conflict that Americans have fought in from
the Revolutionary War to the Persian Gulf War. His historical
accounting of the struggle of African Americans to gain equality and
full citizenship on two fronts – in the military and in civilian life –
is quite moving. He blends historical facts and statistics into a
highly readable chronology. It becomes quite clear very early in the
book that there exists a dichotomy between the promises of democracy
and the reality of military life.
Throughout the book, one can detect several themes that have
persisted for African Americans for the more than two hundred years
that African Americans have fought in America’s wars.
The first theme is one of acceptance and rejection. Acceptance on a
limited scale during times of crisis and near-total rejection when the
danger passes is a common feature of the African American experience.
This pattern repeated itself during and after each conflict from the
Revolutionary War to Vietnam.
Writes Lanning: “While the United States ultimately benefitted by
the war, African-Americans did not. Once again Blacks had to fight for
the right to fight. And once again, after they had fought and many had
died, their country neither recognized nor rewarded their service.”
Another theme is the myth that honorable military service will lead
to decreased discrimination – both in the military and in civilian
life. Throughout the book, Lanning describes this as a predominant view
among African Americans.
