Negroes to the Sea

The Navy's 20-year ban against Negroes for anything but the Messman Branch was lifted last week.

The announcement was no surprise. The deal got a boost on Dec. 7 when heroic Doris Miller, Negro messman aboard the Pearl-Harbored Arizona, manned a machine gun, blasted away at Jap planes until his ammunition ran out. The idea speeded up when Joe Louis handed $89,00 fight proceeds to Navy Relief, was practically clinched when Wendell Willkie urged the Navy to drop its anti-Negro rule.

Under the new ruling, Negroes will get the same physical and mental entrance exams as everyone else, can apply for ratings in the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard. Most likely assignments will be special shore duty units, Navy yard or construction work. Later on, small boats will get all-Negro crews-and some day the U.S. may have all-Negro destroyers (but with white commissioned officers).

U.S. Negroes, at first, were delighted. When they took another look, they began screaming "Nazi attitude," "insult," "a definite straddle." The reason was plain as a battleship: new rule or no, Negroes still cannot rise above a noncom, still must train and serve in segregated groups.

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