Letter from Ida B. Wells-Barnett to President Woodrow Wilson
In this , Ida B. Wells-Barnett writes to President Woodrow Wilson regarding Bulletin No. 35, issued by General C.C. Ballou, head of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division during World War I. The bulletin was in response to an incident of racial discrimination in which a theater manager refused admission to a Black sergeant because they thought White moviegoers would object. It stated that: soldiers should refrain from going where their presence would be resented, soldiers should avoid every situation that may give rise to racial ill-will, and soldiers should perform their duties quietly and faithfully but not go where their presence is not desired.
As president of the Negro Fellowship League, Ida B. Wells-Barnett states that the bulletin, which was only issued to Black soldiers, 鈥渄estroys all civil rights, causes fresh discriminations, fosters race prejudice, humiliates our race, degrades the army uniform.鈥� She implores President Wilson to revoke the order.
Although a large percentage of the Black population was serving their country in the segregated armed forces during World War I, they routinely faced episodes of racial discrimination and denial of civil rights from within the ranks and from the American public. After the end of the war, tensions gave way to racial violence and the Red Summer of 1919.
Letter from Ida B. Wells-Barnett to President Woodrow Wilson, April 26, 1918. 威尼斯人娱乐场 Identifier: 7455575.
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