Dixie Invades Britain – by Roi Ottley 1942-45

The noose of prejudice is slowly tightening around the necks of American Negro soldiers, and tending to cut off their recreation and associations with the British people.

For – to be frank – relations between Negro and white troops have reached grave proportions.

The reason for its acuteness is complex. Much of it lies deep in the American way of life. For in essence, there are those here who are still fighting the Civil War – this time on British soil.

American observers who were here in 1942 when the first contingents arrived from America saw amicable and smooth relations develop between the Negro troops and their British hosts.

Some were even lionised – so much so that certain white American soldiers became openly resentful. And they lost no time in attempting to discipline the British people. For – and this is perhaps the crucial issue – in the back of the Southerner’s mind here is the belief that on his return, the Negro will be mighty difficult to remould into the Jim Crow pattern.

Many thousands of American Negro troops are in Britain. They represent a larger Negro population than the British Isles has ever known. For most Britons, it is the first time that they have seen Negroes in relatively large groups. For most of the Negroes it is the first time they have been away from their homes and communities.

But the people here have a racial tolerance which gives them a social lever. They are inclined to accept a man for his personal worth. Thus, the Negro has social equality here in more ways than theory.

To put it in the language of the Negro soldier, ‘I’m treated so, a man doesn’t know he’s colored until he looks in the mirror.’

The fact is, the British do draw racial distinctions, but not within the doors of the British Isles – at least not until the arrival of the white American soldiers.

This is not to say the British are without racial prejudice. They do have it in a subtle form. But, in the main, it is confined to colonial and military officials who have spent their lives administering affairs in the colored colonies and derive their incomes from them.

What contact the British people had with Negroes before the arrival of the American troops was, on the whole, very good.

Paul Robeson and many other Negro artists and entertainers made quite an impression on the British. In the ten years he resided in England, Robeson created a good opinion of the American Negro.

By and large Negro troops have been billeted in the country sections of England, Scotland and Ireland. The British people in the country are naturally hospitable. They warmly greeted the Negro troops. Soon Negroes were invited to British homes, churches, and trade union meetings. Easy and friendly associations developed between the races.

This was a great shock to many white Americans, particularly those from the deep South.

At Highton [=Huyton?] in Northern England – to illustrate – a Negro soldier had an appointment with a British girl to meet him in front of his camp. When he got outside, she was engaged in conversation with two white American soldiers.

The Negro soldier walked over and greeted the girl. ‘I’ve been waiting about 15 minutes for you,’ she scolded cheerfully. They smiled, locked hands, and walked down the road.

One of the white soldiers snatched off his hat and flung it to the ground. He broke into tears and kept repeating over and over, ‘I’m from Georgia and I just can’t take that!’

There are white commanders who, when they arrive in an area with their unit, restrict passes to Negroes until after inspection has been made of the nearest town or city. The best cafes, restaurants, theatres and hotels are chosen for the white personnel and the proprietors and informed that they are to bar Negro soldiers.

This has proved an effectiv,e strong-armed instrument for establishing the Jim Crow pattern in public places, and, incidentally, relegates Negroes to the worst sections on the outskirts of town or along the waterfront.

A Negro Red Cross worker, J Clarice Brooks,a former New York social worker, was alone late one night at a Belfast Red Cross club waiting for transportation home when in walked five white American soldiers. This is what transpired:

‘There’s the bitch that’s runnin’ the club for niggers,’ one shouted as they strode toward her.

‘This is a Red Cross club for American soldiers if they behave themselves,’ she replied.

‘What do you mean? Niggers are better behaved than we are?’

His companions interjected, ‘You going to let her talk to you like that?’

‘Let’s beat her up,’ another said.

‘Yeah, we know how to treat niggers!’

They were about to assault her when, luckily, a white officer happened along and intervened. Miss Brooks told me that although she attempted to press charges against them, that was the last she heard of the affair.

Negro Red Cross workers in England have been known to go home nights armed with baseball bats to fight off prejudiced white soldiers.

In some areas, ‘gangs’ have been formed by white soldiers to terrorise Negroes. When such groups arrive in a town, they immediately declare it ‘their’ territory. Any Negro seen is run out.

There are many cities, towns or villages that have witnessed race rioting. The most infamous of these clashes is called ‘The Battle of Bamber Bridge’ – an area in Lancaster [actually near Preston, in Lancashire].

Negroes billeted here complained of unfair restrictions. They were burning with resentment.

One night, a white MP, regarded by Negroes as their mortal enemy, shot a Negro soldier in the back following a fracas. News of the killing soon reached camp.

The Negro soldiers felt they had reached the limit of their endurance. So they broke into the arsenal, took arms, and barricaded themselves for battle.

When the first white officers approached, they were met by a volley of gunfire. Four of them went down. The other officers sought cover and called for armoured cars. A great tragedy was averted by Lt Edmund Jones, a Negro popular with the troops.

Well aware that these desperate Negroes were prepared to fight to the death, he persuaded his white commander to give him authority to end the affair without further bloodshed. He was made a provost-general for three days and was successful in having the Negroes end their futile battle. He assured them by radio that reforms would follow and in the future they would be dealt with fairly.

This distressing racial situation must be laid squarely on the doorstep of the white officers. Certainly, if they wished to do something concrete about the problem, there are sufficient memorandums, directives and orders to bolster them.

Tons of such literature had been published. I have seen much of it. Most is forthright in explaining, and even insisting on mutual respect among soldiers. Many are masterpieces of clarity. The declared policy of the American Army in relation to the Negro soldier is absolutely clear.

‘He is to receive the same treatment, wages, and rations as the white troops. He is to have equal opportunities for recreation.’

Unhappily, certain of the officers whose tasks it is to implement these instructions violate them where the Negro is concerned. A few of them even bother to read the instructions.

They well know that in practice there is no penalty for any show of racial hostility. The fact is, there is ample evidence to prove that racial prejudice is encouraged by such officers, a group often dominated by Southerners.

An RAF flyer told me of an indoctrinaire course he attended, conducted by an American lieutenant. His whole lecture was devoted to explaining to the British the reasons why they should not associate with Negro soldiers. He made no bones about the fact that not to conform with the American view of race was to be the victim of actual physical violence.

These roughhouse tactics have, of course, been augmented by word-of-mouth propaganda. At every turn, attempts are being made to discredit the Negro. The catalogue of lies and misinformation is well known in America.

But new twists have been given to old cliches. A Negro major told me of being surprised when he visited a British home by the concern for his comfort. The mistress of the house had placed a number of soft pillows in his chair. Every so often, she would anxiously look in his direction.

Before the evening was over, he learned the reason: His hosts had been told by American soldiers that Negroes have tails!

The British are aggressively resisting the prejudice that certain white soldiers are intent upon imposing. This seems to have been the case when US soldiers boarded a bus in London and tried to eject two Negro soldiers from seats they already occupied.

‘You can’t do that sort of thing here,’ a woman conductor protested. ‘We won’t have it. Either you stand or off you go.’

They stood. But the seeds of prejudice are easily scattered. Even some white troops who shared no feeling of prejudice in the United States have accepted the anti-Negro attitudes held by certain Americans. Inevitably, in their contact with the British, some have sought to transfer these attitudes.

What’s true of the United States seems equally true in England: The customer is always right. When the manager of a restaurant was questioned recently a bout refusing service to a Negro soldier, he had a ready answer: ‘White Americans say they will not patronise my place if Negroes are served.’

Nevertheless, the Negro soldier has appealed to the British heart.

The Negro has brought along his gifts. I was quite surprised to find British girls in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and London dancing the lindy hop.

Every Monday morning, the newspapers are filled with reports of Negro activity with the British, such as hikes and picnics. Negroes are seen at churches, groups of them even taking over the choir loft on occasion.

In England Negroes are on their very best behaviour. They are fully aware of what is at stake. Their Negro officers and Negro Red Cross directors have done a splendid job of making them conscious that they are the guests of the British people, and as such, they must prove themselves worthy of their hospitality.

Negro troops stationed near Manchester originated the idea of entertaining the local children to repay some of the hospitality which they had received in that city. I attended the second of a series of six weekly parties. About 20 Negro soldiers sang and danced. Then they distributed chewing gum and candy from their rations. Five hundred children attended the party given at the Red Cross club. The Lord Mayor was present.

The Negro soldiers feel keenly about the frequent show of racial animosity. Voicing a fairly typical attitude of troops who have recently arrived in England, Pfc William B Brown, Newark, NJ, told me how he felt:

‘Since my arrival, I’ve been constantly reminded that I’m a Negro. The pattern seems more pronounced here than in the deep South.’

The fact is, number of people are scrambling around for a solution. I talked quite extensively with British officials. They are frankly embarrassed and even alarmed by the race situation provoked by certain Americans.

None will talk for the record. Lend-lease makes them keep their official mouths closed, for they are well aware of the spitefulness of some Southern politicians.

Moreover, they feel that Americans are creating a vast amount of anti-white feeling throughout the world, which will make the dealings of the British with colored colonials pretty difficult.

Many of them feel Americans are presumptuous to talk of freedom for India in the face of the unsolved race problem in America.

Perhaps no one here is more disturbed than Americans. But individuals cannot stand up alone. Friends, whom I knew in the USA, admit they are helpless.

Yet white officers are daily sticking their necks out to make democracy vibrant and living within the Army. Such Army publications as Yank and Stars and Stripes are dramatising the Negro soldier’s vital role in the war. Several white American seamen signed a petition protesting the barring of Negroes from a ballroom they visited.

The one hopeful aspect of this situation is the fact that the noose of prejudice has not closed. The reason may be found in the fact that many of the most rabid anti-Negro American soldiers are now not so sure of their positions. They do not have wide public support for any show of racial hostility.

S L Solon, an American reporter working for a London paper, relates a conversation which he overheard. It sums up the situation, tying it in a nice tight knot.

‘Personally,’ a town councillor said, ‘I have no feeling of race prejudice. I’ve been led to believe, however, that our relations with American white troops will be better if we conform to what I understand to be American practices of discrimination.’

The answer to that came from a white American officer. ‘Discrimination is not American,’ he said. ‘Even less so today, when we are fighting a war to preserve and extend democratic values in the world.’

Original article published at Buldozia