Race in America

Excerpts from “Race in America”,PBS-11 documentary series, Ep. 5 “Bugle Boys”, aired August 18th, 1980.

The culmination of the decades long CulSec study, 1976’s “The History of Slavery and Racism in America, 1619-1976” or the “Roots Project” would renew interest in the history of race relations in the Old Republic and even the new Republic, as the ethnic enclave projects of the 30’s came under scrutiny. As part of the Roots Project, the 1979-1981 documentary series “Race in America” would be essentially an adaptation of the report, with interviews from historians, journalists, and in later episodes, participants. The following excerpt, from the WW2 themed “Bugle Boys” episode, features several speakers discussing several major racial incidents that occurred in 1943.

[…]

Dan Henry*
(87 years old, former auto engineer, Chumamji Machine Works, 1941-1946) ​

I tried enlisting when the Germans invaded Russia. I had my share of duty during the Great War and my time in the Spartacists. Sadly, they didn’t take nearly blind 50 year olds, so I was instead funneled to the Machine Works, helping our comrades in combat. I had been a car mechanic for some time, so I was assigned to the vehicle manufacturing division, helping with maintenance and testing and such.

[Pulls out the medal for the Order of the October Revolution]

In ‘42, we got the Order of the October Revolution for the tanks we built for the Ruskies, and that received a lot of attention, so they decided to bring in another leadership team to help increase our output even further.

The trouble started almost immediately. First day, the leadership council had this big meeting with all the new recruits. We knew that unlike other factories, these would have appointed managers because they were under the defense industry, but I don’t think that prepared us for how white it ended up being. Of the 6 managers appointed, only one was black. Back then, we still had the “interesting arrangement” in New Afrika, and this wasn’t like anything any of us had seen. Hell, I had worked for several collectives that were majority black, and had all black leading councils.

Now, there were these 6 white guys and a single black man running the factory. And then this shorter, bald dude is the rep, and he was from Chumamji, back when it was Birmingham. And he couldn’t have been more condescending. He talked down to all of us, said that we didn’t understand what was at stake, called us “boys”, and said that we were a “tank plantation”.

Obviously we complained to the union, MilIndCom, ManuSec, and they just said that the official did apologize and that there was nothing they could do.

Then, another official told me “I’m surprised someone of your … education could comprehend such complex systems.” I had been working on cars since I got back from France! Again, complaint was filed, and they said there was another apology. No other consequences

It just grew from there. Officials denying mandatory breaks, officials leaving administrative tasks for the white workers because “They had more experience” (despite them being kids, while most of us had been working for decades), soon, there were rumors that one of the officials was harassing our women co-workers.

Finally, we had enough, and we began to organize. We really wanted to avoid a strike while we were fighting the Krauts. We signed the no-strike pledges from the IWSU to help the war effort. We called multiple meetings with the leadership and union mediators. They said they would “commit to better working conditions”, but wouldn’t commit to concrete suggestions. They said it wasn’t “in the interests of national security.”

Eventually, we had to put out a strike vote. It was 51-49.

Of course, we couldn’t do it for long, and we knew that. We also got sanctioned by the IWSU for breaking our pledge, but it worked. By day’s end, the government finally came for negotiation.

The majority white council was replaced with a majority black one, and we had final say over each member. After that, well, next thing we knew, our tanks were in Berlin.

[…]

Marisol Barinder Singh*
(63 years old, former ship worker, Los Angeles Shipyard, 1940-1946)​

I had left the farming communes up in Bakersfield to join the war effort. I was drafted into the Shipyards.

A lot of us were farm kids. Whites, Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese, Punjabi. We never formed cliques or enclaves. We worked hard and we bonded. We were the perfect unionized workplace.

The papers said it was about wages, I think the Times said it was about how our, the non-white wages were lower than the white wages. And that was true, but I think our biggest concern was more for the racism against our Japanese comrades.

The administrators met with them for infractions more than any of us, they would section them off from any major projects, and apparently, we had heard they and Public Safety were monitoring them. I remember they said it was “national security concerns”, but these were Americans! Most of them had never even been to Japan, but they still thought of them as potential spies.
We tried to point out, you know, that Karl Yoneda was the California Premier, that they were fighting in record numbers, but they still insisted on “specific treatment.”

We had heard about what had happened over in New Afrika, and realized we could affect some sort of change with a strike.

I think it dragged further because we also added on a wage increase, which in those days was problematic due to the nature of war planning. The IWSU sanctioned us, but that was just a reprimand, nothing too severe, and after two days, we were able to receive higher wages, and the Military Council agreed to investigate anti-Japanese bias in the workplace, and recommend measures towards reducing bias. We became even more productive. They should’ve done that the first time! (laughs)

I’m proud of what I accomplished, and when I see those strikes and protests for the environment on TV today, I think that we had an impact that went beyond the shipyards and the war.

[…]

Elizabeth Munemori*
(48 years old, younger sister of Albert Munemori, Light Industry clerk 1952-)​

Bertie wanted to be the next Gene Krupa. He wanted to be a jazz drummer, like, Buddy Rich or in modern times, maybe Karen Carpenter.

He played in the marching band at school, and he practiced those damn drums every day when he got home. My father was always embarrassed, because he was one of the council members in Ojai, and he’d have to catch shit from his constituents, because he’d wake everyone with his drumming. (chuckles)

We were very close, we loved music, we used to save our allowances to buy the newest jazz records. He was my big brother, so he was very protective of me. Said that guys shouldn’t mess around, and when the time came…. He’d show ‘em.

When the war came, he wanted to serve. He even told me that he was going to fudge his age to fight in Russia, but my father didn’t want that at all. He pulled strings to have Bertie do his service stateside, near Fresno. It was a while away, though, so we never really got to see him much while he was in the service.

I just….. Sorry, I need a moment. (Sighs). I remember I was listening to a baseball game on the radio, when my father came in. He looked pale, like he had just seen a ghost. He sat down in my bed, and just sat there for a minute. I didn’t know what was going on. I asked, “Daddy, what’s wrong?” Finally, he just muttered, “Bertie’s gone.”

“Gone where?[sniff]“
He said that a man in uniform came by to inform us that Albert had been killed in Fresno. Away from the front.

I didn’t sleep for the next three days

[…]

There was a lot of press attention around the trial. Maybe because our father was a somewhat prominent local official. The steps to the courthouse had a lot of reporters, photographers.

I never actually got a look at Victor Terry until I sat in the courtroom. I just remember his expression. He just sat there, stonefaced. He was this huge guy [opens arms for emphasis] with giant forearms.

[Courtroom sketch depicting Victor Terry, age 30, hulking, balding, 5 o’clock shadow]

I wasn’t sure if he cared about any of this. He said that he killed my brother because he was a “fucking [racial expletive removed]”, who would constantly take phone calls and was abnormally interested in the routines. I don’t think he knew Bertie very well, because that’s how he was, he was a dedicated student, and wanted to be a great soldier.

Anyway, he had no passion when he said that. He just said it casually, no tone in his voice. I read later that he apparently didn’t seem that passionate about killing my brother or communism or capitalism or white supremacy or even hating Japanese people that much. I’ve been reading about these killers that see violence as something that just excites them, that they had no feelings or emotions and are very manipulative. I think Vic Terry was one of those sorts of killers.

Anyway, it was a blur, except when my father took the stand, and broke down when he realized that his son was never coming back.

It was guilty, but it took the jury a few hours to fully debate it. He was executed in February, March of ‘44.

I miss him every day. I think about him every day. I visit his grave and I sit, and I just talk to him.

I’d like to think he’s in a better place.

[…]

Earl George
(86 years old, ILWU President 1949-1961, member of the Wright Committee)​

After a few weeks of interviews with workers across the nation, with a focus on the defense industry, we saw that there was still a level of de facto segregation, and in the report, we state that the problems that were there in LA and Chumamji were really prevalent throughout the nation, it just never got attention because they never struck. Of course, those two strikes really threatened our capabilities at this time of war, especially if it was allowed to spread to other factories.

We gave recommendations, including the promotion of more persons of color into administrator positions in the defense industry, and mandatory classes and instructional films about prejudice and solidarity. Those were implemented immediately thanks to Liz Flynn and Eugene Ballard.

That said, for propaganda purposes, we were told that the report would be classified due to its potential to damage the image of Comintern. Eventually, during the 60’s, it was declassified, and used as a guideline for the current diversity and sensitivity efforts. *[WPA]: Works Progress Administration *[NBI]: National Bureau of Investigation