Title An army afire : how the US Army confronted its racial crisis in the Vietnam era / Beth Bailey

Published Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2023] ©2023

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Description 1 online resource (341 pages) : illustrations Contents A tactic of silence -- Same mud, same blood -- Defining the problem -- Leadership -- Education and training -- Culture and identity -- Off-post discrimination -- Military justice -- Affirmative actions Summary "By the Tet Offensive in early 1968, what had been widely heralded as the best qualified, best-trained army in US history was descending into crisis as the Vietnam War raged without end. Morale was tanking. AWOL rates were rising. And in August of that year, a group of Black soldiers seized control of the infamous Long Binh Jail, burned buildings, and beat a white inmate to death with a shovel. The days of 'same mud, same blood' were over, and by the end of the decade, a new generation of Black GIs had decisively rejected the slights and institutional racism their forefathers had endured. Acclaimed military historian Beth Bailey shows how the Army experienced, defined, and tried to solve racism and racial tension (in its own words, 'the problem of race') in the Vietnam War era. Some individuals were sympathetic to the problem but offered solutions that were more performative than transformational, while others proposed remedies that were antithetical to the army's fundamental principles of discipline, order, hierarchy, and authority. Bailey traces a frustrating yet fascinating arc where the army initially rushed to create solutions without taking the time to fully identify the origins, causes, and proliferation of racial tension. It was a difficult, messy process, but only after Army leaders ceased viewing the issue as a Black issue and accepted their own roles in contributing to the problem did change become possible"-- Provided by publisher Notes Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (JSTOR platform, viewed June 7, 2023) Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Subject United States. Army -- African American troops -- History -- 20th century SUBJECT United States. Army fast Subject Vietnam War, 1961-1975. African American soldiers -- Civil rights -- History -- 20th century Discrimination in the military -- United States -- History -- 20th century SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies. HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / Vietnam War. Armed Forces -- African American troops Discrimination in the military Race relations SUBJECT United States -- Race relations -- History -- 20th century Subject United States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 1469673282 9781469673288 9781469673271 1469673274

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