The Irony of the Negro Soldier Movie

The Negro Soldier

Watching \\\\\\\"The Negro Soldier\\\\\\\" against the backdrop of World War II was a profound experience for me. The film, I thought, tried to bridge the gap between the racial divides that have troubled this nation for many long years. It was nice that it showed the valor, fortitude, dedication, and sacrifices of black soldiers. It was good to see that we too are an integral part of this great nation. Yet, as I sat there, surrounded by my fellow soldiers, I couldn’t help but reflect on the big and stark contrast between the ideas and ideals presented in the film and the reality of our lives back home.

Growing up during the Great Depression, I witnessed the economic hardships that affected the Black community. Jobs were scarce, and when they were available, we were often the last to be hired and the first to be fired. Racial tensions were always simmering just beneath the surface of things. Jim Crow was always there. What happened next? Race riots, more prejudice, more of the same.

I had relatives who were members of the NAACP and the UNIA. They always talked about the fight equality and civil rights. The NAACP, they said, wanted to change the system. The UNIA was more for the cause of Black Nationalism. They wanted black people to have their own nation.

I had all that in mind as a I watched the film, which was commendable in a sense—but really it felt like the US government was trying to soften up the very people it had been ignoring and mistreating for so long. It portrayed us as loyal soldiers, but didn’t much discuss the fact that we were fighting for a country that had turned its back on us. The irony was not lost on me. Here we were, thousands of miles away from home, fighting against the forces of fascism and tyranny, while back home, our own people were being subjected to a different kind of tyranny – that of racial prejudice and discrimination.

With this in mind, I find myself gravitating towards the ideology of Black Nationalism. The idea of having a place where we, as Black people, can truly be free, and be ourselves, is something that speaks to me. I don’t want to have to deal with this country anymore, with all the nice things it says out of one side of its mouth while treating you differently and saying other things out of the other side of its mouth. If we had our own nation, we wouldn’t have to be pandered to.

The NAACP\\\\\\\'s approach is noble, but it seems to be idealistic—as though this country would ever really be ours or as though we would ever really be given equality. The legal battles, the protests, and the push for integration won’t address root cause of the problem. The system itself is flawed, because the people who designed it for themselves were flawed, and trying to bring about change from within seems like an uphill battle.