| Summary |
This thesis is an insightful look at how African Americans entered the United States Marine Corps. It is an attempt at something that, to my knowledge, has not yet been done, a study of a historical phenomena that occurred during World War II in the context of African American participation in the Marine Corps. Unlike previous wars in American history, it was only during World War II that black participation in the military was a result of political pressure, not the exigencies of war. Furthermore, it was due to this political pressure that the Marine Corps was forced to accept African Americans in its ranks. Over the years, other researchers in this field noted this in passing; however, they did not investigate how and why such actions were possible. Therefore, this research begins with a study into the background of how blacks entered the Marine Corps through the issuance of Executive Order 8802. After this discussion, this research examines how the Marine Corps instituted a number of policies, based on racial discrimination that dictated the training and use of the first blacks in its ranks. In examining these policies, it becomes clear that the need to maintain segregation was the overriding concern of the Marine Corps. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is twofold. First, it will show that racial motivations dictated the introduction, use, and deployment of African Americans. Second, by examining these men, it will be possible to see how their service helped change perceptions and shape our modem world. In doing so, this work will explicitly state that the first black United States Marines' experience was entirely unique. Other authors have inherently expressed this claim in works, yet none have explicitly stated it. To prove these points, this work will answer some basic but fundamental questions. How did blacks enter the Marine Corps? What policies were instituted with their introduction? What effect did Marine Corps service have on their lives? What effect did their service have on the country as a whole? Why were they significant? What was historically unique about the first black Marines? To answer these questions, a number of sources were used. Included among these were letters, memorandums, newspaper articles, executive orders, acts of congress, census data, biographies, professional articles, scholarly works, and oral histories. As far as these sources are concerned, there were three groups that deserve a large amount of credit. The first is the Marine Corps Historical Reference Branch in Quantico, VA. Through numerous visits to this location, I was able to find many of the letters and memorandums that dictated the initial use of African Americans in the Marine Corps. The second group is Dr. McLaurin and his research team, whom to my knowledge, compiled the most extensive oral histories database concerning the Montford Point Marines. The third group is Henry I. Shaw and Ralph W. Donnelly, authors of Blacks in the Marine Corps. This work was immensely valuable in gaining a foundation on which to build. Without it, research into this topic would have been immensely difficult. Therefore, through the examination of these materials, it will be possible to understand how blacks entered the Marine Corps. |
