MAVRC Book Club discussion

Date: Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Time: 2:00PM CDT
Location: Virtual - Zoom
REGISTER HERE: https://siue.zoom.us/webinar/register...

This year during the spring and fall semester, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is hosting a series of events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of military integration through the passage of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 and President Harry S. Truman signing of Executive Order 9981.

In honor of Executive Order 9981, Dr. Gerald F. Goodwin will be joining Military and Veteran Services with the realities of African American men during the Vietnam War in his presentation, "More apt to be drafted, to be placed in a combat unit, and to meet death in Vietnam": African American Servicemen, the Draft, and the Rise of Racial Violence in Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, African Americans did not have to fight to serve in combat units as had been the case in previous conflicts. However, new issues arose. In the first years of the war, African Americans were disproportionately drafted and assigned to combat units. This led to higher death rates and convinced many African Americans that they were serving as cannon fodder in an increasingly unpopular war. These accusations contributed to growing racial tensions in the armed forces, and eventually led to violence.

Dr. Goodwin currently resides in Syracuse, New York and teaches at Le Moyne College and Onondaga Community College-SUNY. Earlier this year, his book, Race in the Crucible of War: African American Servicemen and the War in Vietnam, was published by UMass Press. He has also published articles in The New York Times and World History Connected. Dr. Goodwin was a consultant for the NPR documentary "The Forgotten History of a Prison Uprising in Vietnam", in which his article “Black and White in Vietnam” (2017) inspired the radio broadcast.

This event is free and open to the public.