Paying Homage to the Black Men and Women of the Armed Forces

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to join with my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus to pay homage to the Black men and women of our Armed Forces whose service and sacrifices have far too often gone unrecognized and underappreciated. To make matters worse, they have often been denied their proper and well-deserved benefits as veterans who proudly served our Nation.

There has been no war or conflict in which this country has been involved that Blacks did not participate. The men and women we are honoring tonight, as we commemorate the 100th year of celebrating Black history, made memorable and consequential contributions to the greatness of this country. It should not be insulting to any red- blooded American to hear about them, read about them, and learn about them in the same manner that we learn about others whose contributions were similar, but their skin color made them more worthy.

When we hear stories of the American Revolution, we don't often hear of Crispus Attucks, a Black man who became the first casualty of the American Revolution when he was the first of five colonists shot and killed on March 5, 1770, in what became known as the Boston Massacre. His murder stirred the revolutionary fervor and America's fight for its liberation from the British.

So, why is it that all of us were taught about the Boston Tea Party but nothing about the Boston Massacre?

The life of Crispus Attucks is far less documented than his death. Crispus Attucks escaped from slavery in Framingham, Massachusetts, in 1750 and spent two decades on trading ships and whaling vessels. His death continues to serve as a reminder that African Americans took an active role in the path to American independence, not a passive one.

The poet John Boyle O'Reilly celebrated Attucks as ``the first to defy, and the first to die.''

In his 1964 book, ``Why We Can't Wait,'' Martin Luther King pays homage to Attucks for his courage and defining role in the American Revolution. Why don't our textbooks?

In his 1881 autobiography ``Life and Times of Frederick Douglass,'' Douglass wrote that he ``urged every man who could enlist to get an eagle on his button, a musket on his shoulder, and the star-spangled banner over his head,'' and ``there is no power on Earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States.''

Douglass believed the Civil War offered the Black soldier an opportunity to gain his stripes, but he could not convince his friend, Abraham Lincoln, to allow Blacks to serve. In August 1862, a formerly enslaved Black man from South Carolina came here to Washington and convinced Lincoln to allow Blacks to serve.

History records that 170,000 Blacks joined the Union Army, 19,000 joined the Union Navy, and 40,000 died in that war. Robert Smalls, who convinced Abraham Lincoln to allow these freedmen to serve, became a captain in that Navy, participated in 18 battles, and was the only genuine hero of the Civil War. In my not-so-humble opinion, Robert Smalls is the most consequential South Carolinian who ever lived.

In 1865, Abraham Lincoln acknowledged their value, saying: Without the military help of the Black freedmen, the war could not have been won.

In what textbook do we find that? I would say very few, if any.

World War II saw the service of many African Americans who never got their just due in or out of the military.

My father had two brothers. Both of them, William and Charlie, served in World War I. Every time I tried to engage them in conversations about their experiences in that war, they never ever would discuss that. They made it very clear to me that the treatment they got both in that war and when they came back home made them wonder what they were fighting for.

World War II was much of the same. If I were to mention tonight the Montford Point Marines, I would suspect very few, if any, in this Hall would recognize them. Well, Montford Point Marines were those Black marines who were not allowed to be trained at Camp Lejeune alongside White soldiers. They were sent to a mosquito-infested swamp in Montford Point, and that is where they served from 1942 all the way through 1949.

I am pleased that this body, in its wisdom, saw it fitting and proper to give the Congressional Gold Medal to those Montford Point Marines in such a way that I would think was offering an apology for the way they were treated while they were serving.

Now, I would mention, in speaking of World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen, and everybody would know about the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces, flying over 15,000 combat missions. They played a vital role in the Allied victory in World War II.

Instead of being defined by the discrimination and the doubts of those around them, they became one of the most successful pursuit squadrons in our military. They went on to embody the true meaning of Black excellence.

They left a segregated country to fight in a segregated Army and painfully returned to a country that still did not treat them with the dignity and the respect that they deserved and had earned.

They had a movie made about them, the ``Red Tails,'' but they were not given their GI Bill benefits.

On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, desegregating the Armed Forces so there would be no more Montford Point marines. Truman declared: There shall be ``equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.''

Many servicemen wrote to President Truman. Perhaps the most pivotal letter that Truman got came from Isaac Woodard, Jr., a World War II veteran who, hours after being honorably discharged from the United States Army, was dragged off a bus and beaten to near death and blinded by police in Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina.

In response to Woodard's letter, President Truman declared, and I am quoting Truman: ``When a mayor and a city marshal''--I want to repeat this: ``When a mayor and a city marshal can take a Negro sergeant off a bus in South Carolina, beat him up and put out one of his eyes, and nothing is done about it by the State authorities, something is radically wrong with the system.''

In January 2025, President Trump made the decision to stop teaching Air Force recruits about the Tuskegee Airmen in the name of banning DEI initiatives. Their heroism is not DEI. It is American history.

Sergeant Woodard deserved better treatment because of his sacrifices. President Truman decided it was time to close a chapter on one part of American history.

Other Black soldiers returning home from World War II found themselves facing the same socioeconomic and racial discrimination they had faced before going off to war. Instead of being welcomed back home with open arms, they struggled to find jobs, to get an education, and to purchase homes.

We cannot undo the injustices of our past, but we can begin to restore the possibility of full economic mobility for those whom the original GI Bill left behind. That is why I have sponsored for several years now the GI Bill restoration act that would bring us one step closer to that goal.

America can't change what happened to these Black soldiers. We can't change what happened to too many soldiers like Sergeant Woodard who went uncelebrated because our Nation judged them by the color of their skin and not the content of their character. However, we can do our best to make it right, and that begins with us passing my legislation that I co-led with Congressman Seth Moulton, the Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr. and Sgt. Joseph H. Maddox GI Bill Restoration Act.

We didn't stop with World War II. Just 2 years after Truman issued his executive order, we began to desegregate the Armed Forces. There we were in the Korean war, and we put Truman's executive order into action and was greeted with resistance.

Truman's 1948 executive order inspired many Black men to join, believing the military would provide an equality of opportunity the greater American society lacked.

It was in the Korean war that African Americans first served shoulder to shoulder with soldiers of all races and backgrounds for the first time. A message resounded throughout the Nation: If people of different races could serve as comrades in combat abroad, they could live as neighbors at home.

The quest for racial equality extended far past the barracks or on the battlefield, but that same quest for racial equality returned home with Black soldiers.

I often think about our former colleague, the late Congressman Charlie Rangel. At the age of 17, Charlie Rangel left school and joined the Army to help his mother support his family. Soon after he enlisted in 1948, he deployed to Korea for what he thought was a police action but soon realized it was a full-scale war. With a fighting spirit, he found himself in combat during the Korean war and risked his life to rescue 40 soldiers from behind enemy lines.

Returning home to Harlem, New York, Rangel was first elected to Congress in 1970 and would go on to serve 23 terms in this body. Mr. Rangel was a proud cofounder of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Today, America is faced with a turbulent reality as the Trump administration is still trying to purge our United States Armed Forces of Black officers, diversity, and honoring Black history.

In February 2025, President Donald Trump fired General Charles ``CQ'' Brown, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The words Trump used to justify his firing were ``woke'' and ``DEI.'' CQ Brown was the Air Force's first Black commander of the Pacific Air Forces and later the first Black Chief of Staff.

What is woke about being a commander of the Pacific Air Forces?

None of the other commanders before him were called woke. They were all called commanders.

So why was he called woke and fired?

Well, Mr. Speaker, I think you know why.

In March 2025, part of Project 2025, Arlington National Cemetery erased from its website educational materials about the history of Black servicemembers, including the Tuskegee Airmen and General Colin Powell, the first Black Joint Chiefs chairman.

Why are they erasing these people from the website and not anybody else? We know why.

Let me be clear: The White House and the so-called Department of War appear determined to undermine, discredit, and even erase the evidence of Black patriotism and Black servicemembers who have faithfully served our Nation.

Against this backdrop, we must remain vigilant against these attacks on Black servicemen and veterans, recognize their valor and sacrifice, and work diligently to offer them the promise of this country that they deserve. May Black military service, in triumph and tragedy, always serve as a powerful reminder that the stories of sacrifice and patriotism must never be erased regardless of who embodies them.

In all too many instances, Black veterans have had to fight for equal access to benefits and respect upon returning home. Black veterans have struggled and died in a dual battle: fighting abroad in defense of country and fighting at home for opportunity, change, and their rights as American citizens.

Millions of Black Americans have answered the call to serve and protect the American people from all threats, both foreign and domestic. Today, 350,000 Black men and women serve in the United States military, and there are over 2.4 million Black veterans, many of whom still are not getting the GI Bill benefits that they deserve. This body is still refusing to honor legislation that would give them what they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Beatty for joining me in this Special Order hour. I yield to her now to continue this discussion.

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Mr. CLYBURN. Clarke).

Ms. CLARKE of New York. Good evening, I am Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, proudly representing New York's Ninth Congressional District located in Brooklyn, New York.

I thank my colleagues--Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a real champion for the people of Ohio, and Congressman Jim Clyburn, leadership extraordinaire--for co-anchoring this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight with my colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus to again commemorate the centennial of Black History Month and to reflect on the innumerable contributions to our country that Black Americans have made throughout our Nation's history.

Black History Month offers our community a time to celebrate our hidden figures and impactful heroes, including our Black veterans and servicemembers.

Today, we honor the generations of Black veterans whose courage, advocacy, sacrifice, and patriotism have moved our country and world forward.

Since our Nation's founding, our military has relied on Black Americans to answer the call to serve. Quite frankly, it occurred prior to our founding. From the Revolutionary War and Crispus Attucks to Harriet Tubman, spy, scout, nurse, and cook for the Union Army during the Civil War. From the Tuskegee Airmen, the valiant and courageous Red Tails, to the brilliant and extraordinary Six Triple Eight, Black women and men have always been on the front lines, standing for the values that make our Nation great.

With such a storied legacy of service to our Nation, it is unfortunate that racially discriminatory practices have for too long obstructed Black veterans from equally accessing veterans benefits, like housing, education, and healthcare.

From the denial of the GI Bill benefits, effectively shutting nearly 1.2 million Black veterans out of its promise, decades of discrimination have produced profound and lasting economic consequences for Black servicemembers and their families.

Today, Black veterans account for nearly a third of our Nation's unhoused veteran population, and Black veterans are nearly two times as likely to live in poverty.

These years of discriminatory practices against our Nation's Black veterans have only been compounded by this administration's recent actions within the Department of Defense. From eliminating equitable practices that benefit our diverse military leadership to creating a hostile environment that Black veterans have warned will deter a diverse population of prospective servicemembers, to removing evidence of the historical impacts of Black servicewomen and -men, this administration is committed to further marginalizing our Nation's heroes.

It is important that we never forget the unique history and contributions of our Nation's Black veterans.

As the conscience of the Congress, the Congressional Black Caucus refuses to allow the sacrifices of these patriotic Americans, Black Americans, to go unnoticed or to be erased.

We will never be able to fully repay our veterans, given the sacrifices they have made for our country, but as Congress, it is our responsibility to make sure we do all we can to ensure that they have what they need when they return home.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus for their commitment to supporting our Nation's veterans and for recognizing the role that Black veterans play in American history and to this very day within our U.S. military.

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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank very much the chair for her leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus. I thank her for allowing me to co-chair this Special Order hour with our friend, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty.

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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to mention a little bit of history here that I think is very meaningful and helps to make the point that I really want to make tonight.

I attended public and private schools in South Carolina, grade schools, before going off to South Carolina State, now University. When I came to Congress, South Carolina State had given or produced more African-American general officers than all the military service academies combined. It was that one little school in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Today, if my memory serves, they have produced 23 general officers.

That school was founded in 1896 as what we call an 1890 land-grant school. When the land-grant schools were first put into production, it was 1862. In fact, the land-grant bill was signed by Abraham Lincoln. Of course, these institutions in the south, like Clemson University in South Carolina, did not allow African Americans to serve.

If you look at the legislation that created the Morrill Land Grant Act, which I have studied, it says that it is to teach agriculture and mechanics. We see in a lot of these schools A&M--in fact, I spent last Friday on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida A&M University stands for agricultural and mechanical.

In that law, there is another M that very seldom gets recognized. The Morrill Land Grant Act lists this as part of the training these institutions should undertake; military. It is in the law. Some of these schools, like South Carolina State, have taken that seriously.

Over the years, other land-grant schools like Tuskegee University-- now I just mentioned the Tuskegee Airmen who came online during World War II. After the war, we had contributions from people like Daniel ``Chappie'' James.

I like to mention Daniel ``Chappie'' James because I remember, as a kid in those schools I was attending in South Carolina, I would hear all this stuff and read this stuff about Jimmy Doolittle. I read up on Jimmy Doolittle. He was an outstanding military person, but his resume does not touch the resume of Daniel ``Chappie'' James, who became the first African-American four-star general in the Air Force.

Chappie James fought in both the Korean war and the Vietnam war. In both those wars, he flew 160 missions and is credited with having shot down 26 enemy planes.

Where in these textbooks do we hear any discussion of Chappie James? I have never been able to understand what it is about folks who feel that to give one person credit for having done what they did takes something away from another person's contributions.

We all believe in this great country. There isn't a need for it to be made great. It is already great. We have all got to learn how to work together so that everybody can benefit from the greatness of this country.

It doesn't take anything away from a child sitting in a class with my grandchildren, learning about the contributions, learning about Chappie James. How can that be an insult? There is no insult to my children to learn about Jimmy Doolittle. Why is it an insult to learn about Chappie James?

Why is it okay for everybody to enjoy the baseball skills of Jackie Robinson? It is all right to put his contributions to sports in books. Before Jackie Robinson ever set foot on Ebbets Field, he was in the military. He served honorably in the United States military, and that has been recognized by our military institutions.

Why would this administration take Jackie Robinson's military records out of our archives? It is okay for him to be a baseball player. It is okay for him to entertain but not okay for us to recognize him for his military skills. I don't quite understand that.

I don't understand why it is that we let all these contributions of entertainers be celebrated; but when it comes to academia, when it comes to the military, it all becomes wokeness. I have yet to hear one person apply that term to sports people and entertainers. That, to me, tells it all.

Mr. Speaker, I think that as we pause to recognize not just the 100th anniversary of the Black history celebration--I want to say something about that, too. I really get a little nervous when I hear people misrepresent the history of this.

In 1915 and 1916, Carter G. Woodson started trying to get our country to recognize what he called Black History Week. He finally got the country in, I think, 1926 to recognize it. It became Black History Week.

When I was a student, that is when we celebrated it. I want the Record to be clear because I want our history to be what it is, not what somebody says it is.

Carter G. Woodson was offered the opportunity to designate the week when we should celebrate Black history. It was Carter G. Woodson who decided that it should be in February.

Mr. Speaker, the reason he picked the week that he did is because he wanted to embrace the birthdays of two people: February 12, the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, and February 14, the birthday of Frederick Douglass. That is why it was done.

Thanks to the visionary leadership of President Gerald Ford--maybe Gerald Ford was a woke President. It was Gerald Ford who decided that we should have Black History Month. He made that decision. Was Gerald Ford a woke President? I think he was an enlightened President, a mature thinker.

I would hope that we would all get to the place in our society where we are mature enough to step outside of our comfort zone sometime, mature enough to recognize the contributions of others, mature enough to have in our textbooks the contributions of people who we call geniuses.

It was okay for us to learn about the lightbulb, but we don't see anyone learn everything about the lightbulb. In fact, that bulb couldn't work until Lewis Latimer's filament was put into it. It was Lewis Latimer's filament--Lewis Latimer, the son of former slaves, who collaborated with Thomas Edison. Edison's bulb, Lewis Latimer's filament makes it work.

Thomas Edison was mature enough to step outside of his comfort zone and sit down with the son of former slaves, Lewis Latimer, and get his filament to put into his lightbulb, and Lewis Latimer was mature enough to collaborate with Thomas Edison.

I would hope that all of us in this body can be mature enough to recognize everybody's contributions and not be insulted by what may be the contributions of one as opposed to another.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Beatty for joining me in this Special Order hour.
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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I am going to close with something a bit more general because I have been wrestling with this for the better part of the last 4 or 5 years.

It is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s letter from the Birmingham City Jail. King, when he wrote that letter, said something that I will leave us with tonight.

King was told that the officials in Birmingham wanted him to leave Birmingham because they said that he was a disruptive force and that they thought that his cause was right, but his timing was wrong.

King wrote this to those people who wrote him the letter. He said: ``Time is never right. Time is never wrong. Time is always what we make it.''

Then he concluded that he was coming to the belief that the people of ill will in our society were making a much better use of time than the people of good will.

Then he closed saying that we are going to be made to repent not just for the vitriolic words and actions of bad people but for the appalling silence of good people.

There is a lot going on in our country today for which we need to speak up about. If we remain silent, we are going to be made to repent, and we may see that democracy is no longer with us.

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