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Fighting on Two Fronts: African Americans and the Vietnam War
The first complete picture of the African American experience in the Vietnam War
The racial tensions that have long plagued American society exist to a much lesser extent in the military where the bond of common pursuit and shared experience renders race less relevant. Or so conventional wisdom has long held.
In this dramatic history of race relations during the Vietnam war, James E. Westheider illustrates how American soldiers in Vietnam grappled with many of the same racial conflicts that were tearing apart their homeland thousands of miles away. Over seven years in the making, Fighting on Two Fronts draws on interviews with dozens of Vietnam veterans―black and white―and official Pentagon documents to paint the first complete picture of the African American experience in Vietnam.
Westheider reveals how preconceptions and petty misunderstandings often exacerbated racial anxieties during the conflict. Military barbers, for instance, were often inexperienced with black hair, leading black soldiers to cut each other's hair, an act perceived as separatist by their white counterparts. Similarly, black soldiers often greeted one another with a ritualized handshake, or dap, as a sign of solidarity, the unfamiliarity of which threatened many white soldiers and was a source of resentment until it was banned in 1973.
Despite ample evidence of institutional racism in the armed forces, the military elite responded only when outbreaks of racial violence became disruptive enough to threaten military discipline and attract negative attention from the civilian world. A crucial addition to our understanding of Vietnam, Fighting on Two Fronts is a compelling example of the new military history at its finest.
The racial tensions that have long plagued American society exist to a much lesser extent in the military where the bond of common pursuit and shared experience renders race less relevant. Or so conventional wisdom has long held.
In this dramatic history of race relations during the Vietnam war, James E. Westheider illustrates how American soldiers in Vietnam grappled with many of the same racial conflicts that were tearing apart their homeland thousands of miles away. Over seven years in the making, Fighting on Two Fronts draws on interviews with dozens of Vietnam veterans―black and white―and official Pentagon documents to paint the first complete picture of the African American experience in Vietnam.
Westheider reveals how preconceptions and petty misunderstandings often exacerbated racial anxieties during the conflict. Military barbers, for instance, were often inexperienced with black hair, leading black soldiers to cut each other's hair, an act perceived as separatist by their white counterparts. Similarly, black soldiers often greeted one another with a ritualized handshake, or dap, as a sign of solidarity, the unfamiliarity of which threatened many white soldiers and was a source of resentment until it was banned in 1973.
Despite ample evidence of institutional racism in the armed forces, the military elite responded only when outbreaks of racial violence became disruptive enough to threaten military discipline and attract negative attention from the civilian world. A crucial addition to our understanding of Vietnam, Fighting on Two Fronts is a compelling example of the new military history at its finest.
- GenresHistory
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First published April 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 25, 2020
A fantastic and well-researched insight into the experiences of race relations and African American experiences during the Vietnam War.
African American history and the Vietnam War are two significant areas of American historical discourse and research, but few scholars have brought the two together in the same way Westheider has. Race is embedded in American history and Vietnam is no exception. Most research on Vietnam is white-washed and almost exclusively ignores or overlooks the experiences of African Americans and other ethnic minorities. Likewise, despite the prevelance of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements during the 1960s and 1970s when the Vietnam War was being fought, there are few mentions of African Americans experiences and outlook on Vietnam in African American history.
In this book, Westheider's extensive research covers all aspects of the African American experience of Vietnam from being drafted to returning to the States. There are sections that cover the inequities of the draft and the discrimnatory way that it targeted poor and minority groups, the extent of racism in the armed forces (both instutional and personal) and how that affected all aspects of the black soldiers experiences, race relations between whites and blacks and how they differed depending whether they were on or off the battlefield, racial violence and militancy, the impact of the Civil Rights and Black Power movement on black soldiers, the devastating impact of the war on returning veterans who felt sidlined and pushed aside by the country they had served and so much more!
It's a fascinating and illuminating academic text which reveals a side to the Vietnam War that has been largely overlooked. I'd highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in racial history or Vietnam, as it's truly eye-opening and compelling.
P.S. This book got me through my undergraduate dissertation and I'll be forever grateful for that!
African American history and the Vietnam War are two significant areas of American historical discourse and research, but few scholars have brought the two together in the same way Westheider has. Race is embedded in American history and Vietnam is no exception. Most research on Vietnam is white-washed and almost exclusively ignores or overlooks the experiences of African Americans and other ethnic minorities. Likewise, despite the prevelance of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements during the 1960s and 1970s when the Vietnam War was being fought, there are few mentions of African Americans experiences and outlook on Vietnam in African American history.
In this book, Westheider's extensive research covers all aspects of the African American experience of Vietnam from being drafted to returning to the States. There are sections that cover the inequities of the draft and the discrimnatory way that it targeted poor and minority groups, the extent of racism in the armed forces (both instutional and personal) and how that affected all aspects of the black soldiers experiences, race relations between whites and blacks and how they differed depending whether they were on or off the battlefield, racial violence and militancy, the impact of the Civil Rights and Black Power movement on black soldiers, the devastating impact of the war on returning veterans who felt sidlined and pushed aside by the country they had served and so much more!
It's a fascinating and illuminating academic text which reveals a side to the Vietnam War that has been largely overlooked. I'd highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in racial history or Vietnam, as it's truly eye-opening and compelling.
P.S. This book got me through my undergraduate dissertation and I'll be forever grateful for that!
August 14, 2012
Excellent!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews