Black History Month: Black WWII Veterans would receive long-denied GI Bill education & housing benefits under pending federal legislation

RallyPoint Shared Content — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 13:46:00 -0500

As the nation marks the start of February’s Black History Month, Congress is considering legislation that would provide GI Bill educational and housing assistance to Black Veterans of World War II who were denied the opportunity to build generational wealth due to historical discrimination in the administration of benefits.

“Though the legislative text of the GI Bill was race neutral, the administration of benefits through national, state and local Veterans Administration offices resulted in a pattern of discrimination against racial minorities, especially African Americans,” according to the bill, H.R. 5905.

Known as the GI Bill Restoration Act, the measure was introduced on Nov. 11, 2021, by House Majority Whip Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-South Carolina, and Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Massachusetts, and referred to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia., said he plans to introduce companion measure in the Senate.

Fraction of Black Veterans receive post-war GI Bill benefits

After the devastation of WWII, the public demanded greater support for Veterans transitioning from war to civilian life. Congress responded by passing the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, otherwise known as the GI Bill of Rights. The legislation granted Veterans access to four years of paid education or training; federally guaranteed home, farm and business loans with no down payment; and unemployment compensation.

Although the bill contributed to the welfare of Veterans and their families overall, only about 2% of the estimated 900,000 Black Veterans who served in WWII were able to access and use GI bill benefits, said Victor J. LaGroon, a U.S. Army Veteran. LaGroon is championing the bill as a board member for the Black Veterans Project, which fights discrimination against Black Veterans, and as chairman of its umbrella group, the Black Veterans Empowerment Council (BVEC).

Even though Black Veterans were denied other GI Bill benefits, the legislation seeks to redress housing and education benefits discrimination in particular.

The bill’s text notes that only 6% of African American Veterans of WWII earned a college degree, compared to 19% of White Veterans of the war who earned a college degree (figures LaGroon said he thinks underestimate the actual disparity). And because of the Federal Housing Administration’s practice of redlining — a racist housing exclusion policy — few Black Veterans could take advantage of the GI Bill housing guaranty program.

Benefit denial compounds black families’ income disparities

“Many families were able to build generational wealth because of that capital,” LaGroon said. “So, the same argument is very easy to make that many families were denied the ability to build generational wealth.”

In terms of the loss of income and impact on future earnings, the cost of the benefits obstruction to Black Veterans and their descendants is high.

“It’s significant money,” LaGroon said. “It’s money that I would guesstimate is in the billions (of dollars) as opposed to hundreds of millions.”

In addition to the economic disparities faced by Black Veterans, the discriminatory denial of benefits compounded the social disparities in communities where Black Veterans returned lacking the assistance they needed to recover from the physical and psychological wounds of war.

The bill would direct the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish entitlement programs providing guaranteed home loans and education assistance for Black Veterans and/or their surviving spouses or descendants.

The legislation doesn’t specify the programs’ funding levels, but LaGroon pointed out that higher education and housing are obviously more expensive today than in the 1940s.

GAO to study racial and ethnic disparities in VA compensation

There soon could be a stricter accounting of the racial and ethnic disparities in the VA compensation paid to Black service members, as a result of another bill (S. 1031), which President Joe Biden signed into law on Nov. 30.

The law requires the Government Accountability Office to more precisely estimate VA benefits paid to minority Veterans with service-related disabilities or injuries to determine biases.

“Trillions of dollars have been stripped from Black veterans and their families through benefit obstruction and gross negligence by the Department of Veterans Affairs to address racism and discrimination forthrightly,” Richard Brookshire, a Black Veteran and co-founder of the Black Veterans Project said in a statement on the day Biden signed the bill.

Being accountable to the next generation of service members

As someone who served after Sept. 11, 2001, LaGroon said he felt America’s leaders must show they can address the nation’s wrongful treatment of Black WWII Veterans, just as they addressed past wartime discrimination of other groups such as Japanese Americans.

“We rightfully call this the greatest generation that’s ever served … and without them we wouldn’t be where we are today as a nation,” he said. “So, it’s befitting that we take the steps necessary to make these folks whole. And if not for them, at least their descendants will benefit from us … righting these previous wrongs and demonstrating what accountability looks like.”

Learn more

Read Clyburn’s news release on H.R. 5905: https://rly.pt/3sc1qdV

Read the text of H.R. 5905: https://rly.pt/3HsKMNx

Read the Black Veterans Project news release on S. 1031, requiring the GAO study: https://rly.pt/3HpUyzQ

CLYBURN, MOULTON INTRODUCE LANDMARK LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE BLACK WWII VETERANS, DESCENDANTS FULL...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In 1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the GI Bill into law. In theory, the GI Bill represented a promise from the country to the people who fought on its behalf that their sacrifice would be rewarded with the opportunity to attend college and build generational wealth. In practice, generations of Black veterans of World War II and their descendants were robbed of this promise because of Jim Crow and the wide racial...

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Feb 2 at 2022 4:12 PM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 16:12:32 -0500

Excellent news share RallyPoint Shared Content

Response by SP5 Dennis Loberger made Feb 2 at 2022 4:59 PM

SP5 Dennis Loberger — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 16:59:14 -0500

This is wonderful except for one there is one problem ...........way too late. There is little credit to be given to a retailer who lowers the price on an item it doesn't have. There is little credit to be given for an act that is beneficial to a group of people when the vast majority are gone and the few left will not exercise the benefit

Response by CPL Douglas Chrysler made Feb 2 at 2022 7:36 PM

CPL Douglas Chrysler — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 19:36:55 -0500

A little late.

Response by CPL LaForest Gray made Feb 5 at 2022 2:17 AM

CPL LaForest Gray — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 02:17:56 -0500

https://youtube.com/watch?v=TvSgUXStGJ8&feature=share

1.) How the GI Bill's Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans
Erin BlakemoreApr 20, 2021

SOURCE :

https://www.history.com/news/gi-bill-black-wwii-veterans-benefits

2.) After the War: Blacks and the G.I. Bill

SOURCE :

https://americanexperience.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/After-the-War-Blacks-and-the-GI-Bill.pdf

3.) 1945 Black veterans return from World War II

In many ways returned Black World War II veterans changed the climate of the South by taking up the deliberate and concerted work of dismantling white supremacy. On July 2, 1946, for example, twenty-one-year-old Medgar Evers, his brother Charles, and four other Black World War II veterans, went to the courthouse in Decatur, Mississippi to vote. They had been the first Black people there to attempt to register to vote since Reconstruction. The six veterans had returned home after fighting for democracy in France and England to find that they were still only second-class citizens.

When they arrived at the courthouse that election day, fifteen to twenty armed white men were waiting for them. So, Evers and his comrades went home to get their guns. The mob was still waiting when they returned to the courthouse, and the six veterans decided not to fight or vote that day. But that wasn’t the end. Both Medgar and his brother would go on to become important leaders in Mississippi’s Freedom Movement, Medgar especially, providing crucial support to SNCC and CORE.

While the United States denounced Hitler’s ideas of Aryan “supremacy” in Europe, U.S. hypocrisy was exposed to Black servicemen and Black civilians alike because Black people remained second-class citizens in the military and at home. Across the country, Black Americans adopted the “Double V” campaign, demanding victory abroad against fascism and victory at home over white supremacy.

SOURCE :

https://snccdigital.org/events/black-veterans-return-from-world-war-ii/

*** this a repost from myself, because people are tooooo comfortable with the status quo ***

He Risked His Life Filming A Mississippi Senator's Plantation In 1964

I have kept this kinescope in my archive since it was recorded by a colleague of mine in 1964. He had the guts to go on to the Senator James Eastland plantat...

Response by SGT Charles Bartell made Feb 5 at 2022 9:49 PM

SGT Charles Bartell — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 21:49:03 -0500

With this their descents should have the opportunity to use the Very past due G.I. Bill.

Response by SSgt Ray Stone made Feb 7 at 2022 8:47 AM

SSgt Ray Stone — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 08:47:44 -0500

Damn shame. Still pisses me off

Response by SFC Keith Gardner made Feb 8 at 2022 9:00 AM

SFC Keith Gardner — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 09:00:57 -0500

As the old saying goes: “Better late than never.” Along with my thanks to Congress I have to ask them “what took you so long?” Great way to save taxpayer money than to wait eighty years to catch up. I think that this is a good example of the benefit of a big central governments ability to do something right, but then falls short in the administration of the good deed. The GI Bill didn’t discriminate within the act, but it was, and is, the responsibility of the federal government to provide overwatch to ensure the benefits got to ALL veterans EQUALLY. Realizing this grievous error, will Congress have the foresight to extend the lost benefits to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of these great Americans? Of course not. And so the social divide continues for another generation.

Last summer I was driving back home and stopped for gas in a small South Carolina town. I took the time to visit a memorial park dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen. It was a nice park, but I couldn’t help but notice that the wooden benches and the brick landscaping had fallen in to disrepair. I have a hunch that when I drive back up to the Outer Banks there’ll be 48 2x4s and a toolbox next to my dive gear.

None of us will be truly free until all of us are actually free.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Feb 13 at 2022 6:34 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 18:34:04 -0500

We still can improve a lot more in regard to tolerance for people of different colors.

Response by SrA John Monette made Feb 14 at 2022 1:55 PM

SrA John Monette — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 13:55:19 -0500

How many are still alive? How about giving those benefits to their children and grandchildren.

Response by PO2 Michael Richardson made Feb 20 at 2022 7:45 PM

PO2 Michael Richardson — Sun, 20 Feb 2022 19:45:46 -0500

Where are all the guys from that other conversation with all that we're all equal nonsense? All that they're trying to divide us? Nothing but crickets when faced with proof of disparities and flagrant discrimination.
Eighty years later these veterans finally get their recognition.

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Mar 1 at 2022 5:17 AM

SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 05:17:14 -0500

Thanks for sharing

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 16 at 2022 10:55 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 22:55:56 -0400

If they extend it to those of whom were dependents of said veterans, they’re about to get a nice back pay

Response by 1SG Rene Davis made Mar 19 at 2022 11:34 AM

1SG Rene Davis — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 11:34:48 -0400

Long overdue.

Response by SGT Bobby Ewing made Mar 29 at 2022 12:34 PM

SGT Bobby Ewing — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 12:34:44 -0400

It is beyond me that we as a Nation have not addressed this many many years ago.

Response by SPC Julio R. made Apr 3 at 2022 1:08 PM

SPC Julio R. — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:08:11 -0400

NOT ROCKET SCIENCE NOT QUANTUM PHYSICS.
THE UNITED STATES HISTORY HAS DENIED MANY A THING TO FOLKS OF COLOR BUT NEVER MORE SO WAS THE RACISM PRESENT IN WW2 BY 90% OF THE POPULACE. YOU KNOW THE VERY STUFF YOU WANT TO HIDE WITH ALL THE BILLS THEIR ANCESTORS ARE SIGNING TO KEEP CRT OUT OF SCHOOL, OR BURN BOOKS, OR HIDE THE AUTROCITIES THEIR VERY OWN KIN HAD/HAVEN DONE, THE DON'T SAY GAY BILLS AND MEN TELLING WOMEN OOPS I MENT RACIST, SEXIST, BIGOTS THAT WANT TO TELL A WOMEN WHAT TO DO WITH THERE BODIES BY PASSING ABORTIONS LAWS AN SUCH(BUT QUICK TO PULL ON ALL THERE CALL OF DUTY COSPLAY GEAR TO "PROTEST" THINGS LIKE "DONT TELL ME TO WEAR A MASK ITS MY BODY MY CHOICE" POS TIKI TORCH CULTISTS.

My bad it gets me heated that yall wanna play good guy decades later to "try to make up" but it is just a token gesture token you know like candice owens.

The descendants of that Vetaran need to be given all the entitlments that soldier had and has earned regardless of color. But we still have those coward racists in uniform of all sorts to include business suits, makign sure that they stay on top and we stay in our lane. nope yall got us fcked up we want our seat at the table and you better clear a spot fo our a*s.

Just a quick reminder not to long ago a black decorated soldier or one of color, war hero with all the credentials would come home from a war WW, Vietnam for example. come home try to get a home or business loan and the door shut in there face, simply because of color and if you somehow got a loan it was high interest and you were redlined.

Well tommy tuff nuts low speed high drag white was useless in the war but came home and told stories of "how many hills you took and how many lives you saved", basically he lied but he had no problems getting that home or business loan and now his family maybe sitting pretty through genational wealth.

One couldn't get to do that becuase of the skin color and the other got everything they wanted becuae of the skin color.
alot of you will start crying like you did when your ma or pa was at the capital on jan 6th. IDGAF there are to many racists yal'qaeda patriots, school board terrrorist karens, tiki torch cult, magabots, bootlickers, and hateful bigots in suits still making policy.

Grow up, this isn't the segregation era or the jim crow era that alot of you and your family members still hold on too with words like "thats my confederate flag its my heritage" LMMFAO.

To make this right yall need to contact the Veterans family and it shouldnt be hard in this day and age you know smoke signals, cellphone, landline, flying writing planes, morris code, carrier pigeons, etc there is no excuse you can not contact the family member and afford them what you took to long to give. Let there family get the benefits.....................

I love you all I just can't stand the cowards that hide behind our uniform still showing and acting out hate on those of color. Or any uniform for that matter, i meant look at the blue isis... different time different story....

Response by Darren Thomas made May 4 at 2022 2:24 PM

Darren Thomas — Wed, 04 May 2022 14:24:22 -0400

Just a political ploy to get votes! I went to a all black school only one other white student in the whole school ! But it does not seem to matter experience be damn in my case!!

Response by SCPO Rick Hunter made May 16 at 2022 8:25 AM

SCPO Rick Hunter — Mon, 16 May 2022 08:25:44 -0400

Meaningless if the VA sticks to their must use benefits within 13 years of separation rule