Black soldiers today have less freedom and liberty than the colored soldiers of the Civil War

Blacks in America are on their way to extinction if this administration continues on its present path. We are loosing more troops in larger percentages than the population as a whole. We are suffering from an education vacuum; being expanded by a President who I doubt can spell nor pronounce the word education. This and prior administrations have taken the civil rights legislation, turned it around under what is called Affirmative Action, and allowed the majority of those privileges to benefit whites. Blacks suffer the highest unemployment. Blacks are imprisoned at an alarming rate. Blacks serve in the armed forces at an unfair rate. This voluntary commitment is largely due to the extent of discrimination that exist where most of the good paying jobs are only available to those in control, and Blacks are forced to enter the military in order to survive.
“The Colored Soldiers If the muse were mine to tempt it And my feeble voice were strong, If my tongue were trained to measures, I would sing a stirring song. I would sing a song heroic Of those noble sons of Ham, Of the gallant colored soldiers Who fought for Uncle Sam! In the early days you scorned them, And with many a flip and flout Said “these battles are the white man’s And the whites will fight them out.” Up the hills you fought and faltered, In the vales you strove and bled, While your ears still heard the thunder Of the foes’ advancing tread. Then distress fell on the nation, And the flag was drooping low; Should the dust pollute your banner? No! the nation shouted, No! So when War, in savage triumph, Spread abroad his funeral pall- Then you called the colored soldiers, And they answered to your call. And like hounds unleashed and eager For the life blood of the prey, Spring they forth and bore them bravely In the thickest of the fray. And where’er the fight was hottest, Where the bullets fastest fell, There they pressed unblanched and fearless At the very mouth of hell. Ah, they rallied to the standard To uphold it by their might; None were stronger in the labors, None were braver in the fight. From the blazing breach of Wagner To the plains of Olustee, They were foremost in the fight Of the battles of the free. And at Pillow! God have mercy On the deeds committed there, And the souls of those poor victims Sent to Thee without a prayer. Let the fullness of Thy pity O’er the hot wrought spirits sway Of the gallant colored soldiers Who fell fighting on that day! Yes, the Blacks enjoy their freedom, And they won it dearly, too; For the life blood of their thousands Did the southern fields bedew. In the darkness of their bondage, In the depths of slaver’s night, Their muskets flashed the dawning, And they fought their way to light. They were comrades then and brothers, Are they more or less to-day? They were good to stop a bullet And to front the fearful fray. They were citizens and soldiers, When rebellion raised its head; And the traits that made them worthy, Ah! Those virtues are not dead. They have shared your nightly vigils They have shared your daily toil’ And their blood with you commingling Has enriched the Southern soil. They have slept and marched and suffered ‘Neath the same dark skies as you, They have met as fierce a foeman, And have been as brave and true. And their deeds shall find a record In the registry of Fame; For their blood has cleansed completely Every blot of Slavery’s shame. So honor and all glory To those noble sons of Ham- The gallant colored soldiers Who fought for Uncle Sam! “
-Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1895