b'THE TRAGIC, FORGOTTENAPRIL 2024THE TRAGEDYHISTORY OF BLACK MILITARY VETERANSEXCERPT FROM THE NEW YORKER (11/20/17)In the week after the election, the Equal Justice Initiative oflet black soldiers fight at all, citing concerns over white soldiers morale and Montgomery,Alabama,releasedanewreportfifty-three- the respect that black soldiers would feel entitled to when the war ended. But, pageaddendumtolastyearsLynchinginAmerica,anas the Union death toll increased, the skeptics relented. By the time the war unprecedentedly thorough survey of American racial violenceended, almost two hundred thousand black men had enlisted. This is widely and terror between 1877 and 1950. Drawing on small-townknown today, thanks in large part to works of art like the 1989 film Glory. newspaperandcourtarchives,alongwithinterviewsof local historians and victims descendants across the South,Unfortunately, less cultural bandwidth has been devoted to what happened to LynchinginAmericatalliedfourthousandseventy-fivethose black troops after the fighting stopped. Few high-school or college students, lynchings,atleasteighthundredmorethananypreviouswhen they learn about military history, learn about the lynching of black veterans. count. The new report, Lynching in America: Targeting Black Veterans,concludedthat,duringthesameperiod,noIn 1877, when Reconstruction ended, black veterans living in Southern states one was more at risk of experiencing violence and targetedquickly became targets for white violence. White newspapers spread rumors of racialterrorthanblackveterans.Thesusceptibilityofblack soldiers assaulting white police. States across the South prohibited blacks blackex-soldierstoextrajudicialmurderandassaulthasfrom handling weapons. Compared to those who had not served, former soldiers neverreceivedsuchcomprehensivestandalonetreatment.Cont. on page 5 IntheaftermathofTrumpsvictory(2017),itseemseerily relevant. Like Lynching in America, the new report, which is available online, was compiled by E.J.I. attorneys and research fellows.Theorganizationis,atitscore,alawfirmthat challenges illegal convictions, unfair sentences, and prison abuse. But, as Jeffrey Tobin noted in his recent Profile of E.J.I. s founder and director, Bryan Stevenson, over time the nonprofit had taken on another mission: communicating mainstream American narratives about race, history, and violence. We do so much in this country to celebrate and honor folks who risk their lives on the battlefield, Stevenson told me recently. Butwedontrememberthatblackveteransweremore likely to be attacked for their service than honored for it.Tobeasoldieristoreceivetraininginweapons,in organizations,intactics:theskillsofself-assertion.Itis also to lay claim to the reverence that America sets aside for its former warriors. For these reasons, the return home of black soldiers after the war has infuriated and terrified white America, setting the stage for reactionary aggression. WhentheCivilWarbrokeout,theUnionwasreluctantto Follow us on 4'