African Americans and the Gi Bill

African Americans and the GI Bill

Ira Katznelson in his article, "When Affirmative Action was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America" published in 2005 by W. W. Norton & Company, London, gives his take on how services were rendered to ex-soldiers of the Second World War. In a nutshell, Katznelson strongly believes that the GI Bill which was enacted in June 1944 to provide a lifeline to US veterans was marred by racial prejudice, although many were led to think that all beneficiaries would be treated equally. Based on the facts that he has presented in this article, I strongly agree with the author that although the program seemed unrivaled in its promise for egalitarianism, it was quickly discerned and employed as a policy "For White Veterans Only".

Equal treatment under the GI Bill was most likely an illusion. Although there was no racial segregation contained in the new law, the transfer of power to individual states instead of a centralized federal government quarter ensured discrimination against the blacks who sought the services prescribed in the bill. To ensure continuity and a throttlehold of Jim Crow laws, the key lay in bringing different local states and their agencies (which were nearly all-white decentralized units charged with administration) into the set-up.

To begin with, a look at the team that spearheaded the making of the legislation is enough to raise eyebrows. The Committee on World War Legislation in the House of Representatives was chaired by a blatant segregationist, John Rankin. Rankin used the Southern approach of decentralizing administration and give racial discharge of the policies to states and localities. The Veterans Administration and the American Legion, which were at the forefront of implementing the GI bill, clearly approved of racial segregation and were reluctant to dispute racial policies embedded in the South. I think this was a calculated move aimed at garnering Southern support to pass the bill in Congress.

Like Katznelson, I read malice in the whole affair. If the objective was genuinely to help national heroes, why is it that service was not rendered through direct federal welfare provision? Roosevelt's government put forth a proposal to manage the postwar benefits for veterans from a "strong central directive agency" that would collaborate and direct all other agencies. The South would hear none of it. The commander of the Legion proffered a persuasive argument that sought to explain why they preferred individual states to control majority of the elements in the bill. Apparently they intended to coin the law in line with the South's racial rules and customs.

Racism had severely taken shape in the US and one bill may not have been enough to ensure equality of the subjects. Several lobby groups expressed their reservations concerning the new bill with valid reasons. They explicitly ascertained that racial bigotry in the South prevented Negro veterans from acquiring full benefits under the GI bill. I feel that the barriers that black veterans faced in trying to access services described in the GI Bill clearly ridiculed the legislation's "open-hearted promises". How is it that an initiative that sought to help white and black ex-soldiers alike is the same scheme that ensured that blacks would never benefit from the rewards of its provisions?

In the education front for instance, I see that a profound world of discrimination along the lines of color existed. Prior to the war, most blacks failed to join college due to lack of funds; but thanks to the federal disclaimers a large number of returning veterans would take advantage of the opportunities.