Montford Pointers Broke Color Barrier in World War II

The Montford Pointers were a group of 20,000 Black Marines who broke the color barrier in that organization during World War II. They fought on the front lines against the Japanese during a lot of the major battles of that war.

The growing threat of Nazi Germany, with their notions of racial superiority, forced the US to come to terms with their racial problems in this country. Discrimination was a way of life, with the notion of "Separate but Equal" the law of the land since the Supreme Court decision of Plessy vs. Ferguson back in the 1880's.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that war with Germany would happen at some point. The Germans were repeating the same mistakes that they made during World War I as early as the 1930's, mistreating American civilians and refusing to respect American neutrality. By June 25th, 1941, the US had already signaled greater involvement in World War II with the signing of Lend-Lease, allowing them to send weapons to the allies. The last thing that President Roosevelt needed was civil rights unrest with war possible at any moment. Black civil rights leaders were threatening massive marches on Washington if the President did not do something about the ongoing problem of racial discrimination in hiring practices.

In response, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, barring all discrimination in hiring practices throughout the defense industry by either the government or contractors. This act had long-term consequences; it helped lay the groundwork for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which barred all forms of racial discrimination.This order also required all branches of the Armed Forces to recruit and enlist African-Americans.

Montford Point was the place where Black Marines were trained. One of the first Afro-American Marine drill instructors was Gilbert "Hashmark" Johnson, who had previously served in the Army and Navy. He successfully lobbied for Blacks to be included in combat patrols and he personally led some himself. He fought in both World War II and Korea. He was the first Black serviceman to have a military installation named after him. Today, the Montford Point Marine Association, an organization open to all veterans, exists to perpetuate the legacy of these Marines. In 2011, in a rare case of bipartisan cooperation in Washington, Congress passed and President Obama signed legislation giving the surviving Montford Pointers the highest honors available to American citizens. In 2012, the surviving members received the Congressional Gold Medal for their services to this country.

By contrast, the Nazis had driven out many of the Jewish scientists who could have contributed significantly to a German nuclear program. Among those who were driven out were Albert Einstein. Later, Einstein wrote a letter to President Roosevelt warning that Germany was in the process of doing atomic research that could lead to the development of a nuclear weapon. This letter was the stimulus for the Manhattan Project, which led to this country's successful development of a nuclear weapon. Subsequently, Einstein, originally a pacifist, felt that letter was one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

The Nazi policies of racial superiority proved to be a significant setback to their efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Afterwards, Albert Speer, war production minister and architect for the Nazis, wrote in his book that they would have developed a nuclear weapon by 1947 at the earliest if they had devoted all their resources to such a discovery.