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Better because of African-American Marines

5 Mar 2014 | Lance Cpl. Samuel Ellis Marine Corps Base Quantico

Nearing 70 years of service in 2015, African- American officers have created a legacy of faithful service that began with overcoming the obstacles of racial prejudice.

“The Marine Corps didn’t begin to have their first [black] officers until 1945,” said Dr. Fred Allison, historian, History Division, Marine Corps University. “They had grown up and were young children and teenagers when things were so segregated.”

Marine Corps Base Quantico, the training ground for all Marine officers, became a place for the black officer candidates to find a different type of life.

“For many of them this is the first place they had experienced integration and where they lived and worked on a day-to-day basis with white people, with white Marines,” said Allison. “What came out of it was the realization that the Marine Corps rewarded performance based on performance. There was no un-level playing field such as they had grown up with where blacks were considered to be second-class citizens just because they were black.”

Although the Marine Corps gave a new perspective to the black Marines, there were still obstacles they had to surmount.

“While the Marine Corps encouraged inclusiveness and breaking down barriers, accepting blacks, out in town, there was still a lot of segregation going on,” said Allison. “Quantico itself is in the south, and there was still a lot of racial discrimination and segregation..”

On many bases, including those not in the south, some Marines had trouble even securing housing.

“Even in Hawaii, [an African-American officer] talked about not being able to find off-base housing for he and his wife,” said Allison. “Once [renters] realized they were African-American, they would not rent to them.”

According to the Marine Corps website, the legacy started with Frederick C. Branch on November 10, 1945, when he was commissioned as the first black second lieutenant. In his honor, the Marine Corps offers several Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarships, named for Branch, for students attending or planning to attend one of several historically black colleges and universities.

“The Marine Corps is better today because of the legacy of service of African-Americans,” said Gen. James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, according to his prepared remarks from the Montford Point Marine Association 46th annual national convention and banquet.

Allison agrees and said that it is important for that legacy to live on.

“It’s sort of forgotten now just how racist things were in the United States,” said Allison. “The point is they became good Marines. What they did and continue to do is that. And by doing that they overcame a lot of prejudice, discrimination and preconceived notions of what exactly what African-Americans were. That’s their legacy.”

According to the USMC Concepts and Programs 2013 Marine Corps Almanac, there are 1,243 active duty black officers.

Correspondent: samuel.l.ellis@usmc.mil


Marine Corps Base Quantico