The 1918 ‘Spanish Flu’ posed a threat to American troops
rivaled only by the Germans and their allies in World War I with hundreds of
Black soldiers stationed at
Camp Dodge in Des Moines, Iowa losing their fight against the deadly ‘flu
virus.’
There were reportedly 3,000 Black soldiers at Camp Dodge when
the virus began its fatal march. According to published reports, on Tuesday, October
1, 1918, doctors were monitoring 300 men. By the weekend, that number had
skyrocketed to 1,500.
According to the Des
Moines Register, “A camp document said many soldiers who awoke healthy were
sick by noon. They were dead before supper.”
A Black soldier,
Private Fennon Landers, from Henderson, Kentucky was the first to die. Army
documents show 100 deaths in the first week and 350 the next. By October 9, the
Army stopped issuing updates.
The Black
Officers Training Facility
Not far from Camp Dodge at Fort Des Moines, history had
already been made in 1917 when the United States Army decided to utilize the
Fort as its first facility to train Black men as officers.
Photo Credit: The Des Moines Register
“This was the first time in American history that a
substantial number of Black men would be commissioned as United States Army
officers,” Attorney and author William Morris said during an interview with
Iowa Public Television. “You had men with Bachelors and Masters degrees and
even Ph.d’s who came out here to fight for their country.”
President Woodrow Wilson proposed the camp despite national
concerns about arming Black men. Despite his Southern roots and segregationist
stance, Woodrow navigated the “political struggle” and persevered in his plan
to establish the training facility.
“The fear that Black men armed and taught military tactics
could, perhaps, become an insurrectionist force was very real during the early
part of the century, particularly in the South,” Morris stated.
Military records indicate more than 600 Black men received
their commission in 1918. Morris’s grandfather was one of them.
“He was proud of his sacrifice, but at the same time, he was
disappointed that that didn’t count for much when he came back in 1919,” Morris
recalled.
End of a
Pandemic…Continuation of Racism
By 1919 World War I had come to an end, and the ‘Spanish
Flu’, named for the journalists in Spain who reported the pandemic while
American journalists and others refrained from covering the devastatingly fatal
pandemic due to government concern their reports would impact national morale,
had also been defeated. And, Black soldiers returning home from Europe
discovered a virulently racist backlash to their newfound confidence forged in
the face of death on battlefields on the other side of the world. The next few
years were defined by lynchings and other violent acts directed at Black
America, resulting in a particularly brutal period known as the Red
Summer of 1919, when hundreds were killed by white supremacists.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and establish a White House Initiative on HBCUs to “deliver high-quality education to a growing number of students.”
According to the White House, the Initiative will help develop private-sector partnerships, institutional development and workforce preparation in technology, health care, manufacturing and finance.
The president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Dr. Harry L. Williams said, “Today’s executive order serves as strong reaffirmation of President Trump’s support of investment of historically Black colleges and universities. This executive order should serve as a call-to-action for corporations, foundations, members of Congress and state lawmakers to redouble their efforts to support HBCUs and their students. TMCF looks forward to continued engagement with the administration and Congress to deliver results for HBCUs and the students they serve via appropriations and other legislative actions.”
On the same day, Trump signed another executive order that removes safeguards for African American schoolchildren by eliminating an Obama-era initiative to protect Black schoolchildren from excessive disciplinary action.
During the Obama administration, the first Black president’s administration created guidelines that sought to prevent school discipline from having a disproportionate effect on minority students. Trump revoked the civil rights initiative during his first term and Biden did not formally restore it.
At his signing today, Trump said his decision was especially important to the current Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who held the signed order.
“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, schools were forced to consider equity and inclusion when imposing discipline,” McMahon said in a statement. “Their policies placed racial equity quotas over student safety – encouraging schools to turn a blind eye to poor or violent behavior in the name of inclusion.”
She added, “Disciplinary decisions should be based solely on students’ behavior and actions.
Studies show that Black students are punished more often than their white counterparts.
President Jimmy Carter advanced opportunities for African Americans throughout his life, advocating for justice and peace consistent with the Christian values he embraced. Since his death on December 29 at age 100, Mr. Carter’s praises have been sung from his home state of Georgia to points around the globe. And while the former president’s one-term in the White House is dismissed by some political pundits for a lack of policies or accomplishments that changed the course of history, his character and integrity set him apart.
Carter became the first president to appoint a Black woman head of a federal agency. He chose Patricia Roberts Harris to lead the Housing and Urban Development when he took office in 1977.
Harris said, “I feel deeply proud and grateful this President chose me to knock down this barrier, but also a little sad about being the ‘first Negro woman,’ because it implies we were not considered before.”
Senator William Proxmire questioned Carter’s choice, saying Harris came from too much wealth and influence to be an effective leader. But Carter stood by his decision, and Harris stayed in the position for two years.
The 39th president’s name is also included on the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame.
Civil rights activist, Rev. Al Sharpton recalled a conversation he shared with Carter.
“It was very significant, I was talking there at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, and I was talking to President Clinton and President Carter,” Sharpton recalled. “And when Clinton and I finished talking, President Carter touched me on my arm and said, ‘How are you doing with your ministry, Al? I see you out there with your activism. Don’t leave your ministry … keep your prayer life going.’ And you could tell he sincerely meant it. He was not one who talked about his religion as a political kind of something you could say to voters.”
President Joe Biden declared January 9, 2025, a national day of mourning. Millions watched the former president’s funeral on television as he was remembered as a man of honesty, compassion and faith – which included championing the rights of Americans who knew firsthand the struggle of injustice
The Congressional Black Caucus started the 119th Congress with its largest membership. There were 62 members sworn in today.
“On behalf of the entire Congressional Black Caucus, congratulations to the members of the Executive Committee of the 119th Congress. 53 years after our Caucus’ founding, our work to improve the lives and conditions of Black people in America is more important than ever before,” said CBC President Steven Horsford.