Op-Ed

Beyond the Rhetoric: How the Army Addressed Racial Tensions

Published

10 years ago

May 25, 2015

By Harry C. Alford
NNPA Columnist

I remember sitting through a lecture in a sociology class during my senior year at the University of Wisconsin. The professor was boring and I had a newspaper. I looked at the front page and noticed a list of dates. They were birth dates for the new Army draft lottery. Most exemptions from the draft were gone and President Richard M. Nixon implemented the draft lottery based on birth dates. There it was, my birth date – Feb. 14 – listed as the fourth number to go. Those with the first 100 birth dates were going to get drafted into the Army and I was near the top of the list. My first thoughts: “My future is toast. ”I am going to go to Vietnam and catch a bullet or grenade. If I survive, I am not going to live on a college salary but a drafted private in poverty.”

Procter & Gamble had already made me a job offer. My fear was that my draft status was going to kill the employment opportunity, if not me. However, my corporate recruiter told me not to worry. In fact, he said that what I presented to them was an opportunity. I could go into the Army and come out an officer. That would give me a “triple.” I would be college degreed plus a competitive athlete via football as well as a military officer. He showed me how to apply for Officer Candidate School and I was soon accepted. Thus, I worked a few months before it was time to get inducted and then off to Officer Candidate School in Ft. Benning, Ga.

The racial tension that soared immediately after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 was starting to carry over into the Army. That would make sense as they were drafting young men at a rapid pace and Blacks would be over-represented in the demographics, especially among junior ranking soldiers. Blacks and Hispanics had no slick attorneys to help them avoid service like so many White young men. Fights, threats and even murder were starting to appear in the ranks, especially in Vietnam. You can’t have an efficient fighting military when the soldiers are fighting among themselves.

The Army was a snap for me. My football conditioning came in handy and compared to many of the draftees, my charisma was glowing. If it weren’t for wars, I would have stayed forever. A few months after I finished OCS and Finance School, I was assigned to Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah, 70 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Three months into my new assignment, I was appointed the Race Relations Officer. The Pentagon decided to aggressively address the racial problems it was having in the field. Each brigade would have an active Race Relations Officer who would report to the Commanding Officer on a regular basis and would also directly report to the Pentagon any serious and negative activity. I spent three weeks at the new Race Relations Training School in Ft. Benning. More than 90 percent of the Race Relations Officers were Black.

We would get together three times a year and compare our experiences: –what worked well and what didn’t. A formal summary would be crafted for review by the Pentagon. I would now counsel personnel who had complaints or suspicions. I would write columns on Black history and self-esteem in the local newspaper. Many White soldiers would come to me and say things like, “I didn’t know coloreds did that.” Just the fact that it was well known that we had a Race Relations Officer who was accessible 24/7 made things a lot better.

Whites, especially southern Whites, started to enjoy a new comfort level. At my post, we had a majority of Mormons who were trying to change their image. The denomination they barred Blacks from joining their church until the mid-1970’s. The change was sincere and our military was better because of this program.

There was one personal “hiccup.” I received a call from our contact at the Pentagon. The colonel asked me to explain why a cross burning was considered a minor act on my watch. I replied that it wasn’t. He said, “I am sending this report to you and want an explanation.”

The Commanding Officer had executed his own report and sent it in as if it were from me. I asked him for an explanation since the eyes of the Pentagon were upon us. He broke clean. Someone put a 4’ cross in a Black sergeant’s yard. The military police caught the culprit. He was the child of the post’s Executive Officer, the second-highest ranking officer in command. The Commanding Officer was embarrassed, so they kept the identity of the perpetrator secret and asked the Black sergeant to be quiet about it for the sake of peace – and he did. The Pentagon accepted the final version.

This Army-wide program succeeded and the main reason is that we owned up to the problem and sat down with each other to just “get along” as Rodney King would later admonish the public.

Harry C. Alford is the co-founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. Website:www.nationalbcc.org Email: halford@nationalbcc.org.

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Activism

Juneteenth: Celebrating Our History, Honoring Our Shared Spaces

It’s been empowering to watch Juneteenth blossom into a widely celebrated holiday, filled with vibrant outdoor events like cookouts, festivals, parades, and more. It’s inspiring to see the community embrace our history—showing up in droves to celebrate freedom, a freedom delayed for some enslaved Americans more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

Published

1 day ago

June 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Wayne Wilson, Public Affairs Campaign Manager, Caltrans

By Wayne Wilson, Public Affairs Campaign Manager, Caltrans

Juneteenth marks an important moment in our shared history—a time to reflect on the legacy of our ancestors who, even in the face of injustice, chose freedom, unity, and community over fear, anger, and hopelessness. We honor their resilience and the paths they paved so future generations can continue to walk with pride.

As we head into the weekend full of festivities and summer celebrations, I want to offer a friendly reminder about who is not invited to the cookout: litter.

At Clean California, we believe the places where we gather—parks, parade routes, street corners, and church lots—should reflect the pride and beauty of the people who fill them. Our mission is to restore and beautify public spaces, transforming areas impacted by trash and neglect into spaces that reflect the strength and spirit of the communities who use them.

Too often, after the music fades and the grills cool, our public spaces are left littered with trash. Just as our ancestors took pride in their communities, we honor their legacy when we clean up after ourselves, teach our children to do the same, and care for our shared spaces.

Small acts can inspire big change. Since 2021, Clean California and its partners have collected and removed over 2.9 million cubic yards of litter. We did this by partnering with local nonprofits and community organizations to organize grassroots cleanup events and beautification projects across California.

Now, we invite all California communities to continue the incredible momentum and take the pledge toward building a cleaner community through our Clean California Community Designation Program. This recognizes cities and neighborhoods committed to long-term cleanliness and civic pride.

This Juneteenth, let’s not only celebrate our history—but also contribute to its legacy. By picking up after ourselves and by leaving no litter behind after celebrations, we have an opportunity to honor our past and shape a cleaner, safer, more vibrant future.

Visit CleanCA.com to learn more about Clean California.

Oakland Post

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Activism

OPINION: California’s Legislature Has the Wrong Prescription for the Affordability Crisis — Gov. Newsom’s Plan Hits the Mark

Last month, Gov. Newsom included measures in his budget that would encourage greater transparency, accountability, and affordability across the prescription drug supply chain. His plan would deliver real relief to struggling Californians. It would also help expose the hidden markups and practices by big drug companies that push the prices of prescription drugs higher and higher. The legislature should follow the Governor’s lead and embrace sensible, fair regulations that will not raise the cost of medications.

Published

1 day ago

June 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook. Courtesy of Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook.

By Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook

As a pastor and East Bay resident, I see firsthand how my community struggles with the rising cost of everyday living. A fellow pastor in Oakland recently told me he cuts his pills in half to make them last longer because of the crushing costs of drugs.

Meanwhile, community members are contending with skyrocketing grocery prices and a lack of affordable healthcare options, while businesses are being forced to close their doors.

Our community is hurting. Things have to change.

The most pressing issue that demands our leaders’ attention is rising healthcare costs, and particularly the rising cost of medications. Annual prescription drug costs in California have spiked by nearly 50% since 2018, from $9.1 billion to $13.6 billion.

Some lawmakers, however, have advanced legislation that would drive up healthcare costs and set communities like mine back further.

I’m particularly concerned with Senate Bill (SB) 41, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a carbon copy of a 2024 bill that I strongly opposed and Gov. Newsom rightly vetoed. This bill would impose significant healthcare costs on patients, small businesses, and working families, while allowing big drug companies to increase their profits.

SB 41 would impose a new $10.05 pharmacy fee for every prescription filled in California. This new fee, which would apply to millions of Californians, is roughly five times higher than the current average of $2.

For example, a Bay Area family with five monthly prescriptions would be forced to shoulder about $500 more in annual health costs. If a small business covers 25 employees, each with four prescription fills per month (the national average), that would add nearly $10,000 per year in health care costs.

This bill would also restrict how health plan sponsors — like employers, unions, state plans, Medicare, and Medicaid — partner with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to negotiate against big drug companies and deliver the lowest possible costs for employees and members. By mandating a flat fee for pharmacy benefit services, this misguided legislation would undercut your health plan’s ability to drive down costs while handing more profits to pharmaceutical manufacturers.

This bill would also endanger patients by eliminating safety requirements for pharmacies that dispense complex and costly specialty medications. Additionally, it would restrict home delivery for prescriptions, a convenient and affordable service that many families rely on.

Instead of repeating the same tired plan laid out in the big pharma-backed playbook, lawmakers should embrace Newsom’s transparency-first approach and prioritize our communities.

Let’s urge our state legislators to reject policies like SB 41 that would make a difficult situation even worse for communities like ours.

About the Author

Rev. Dr. VanHook is the founder and pastor of The Community Church in Oakland and the founder of The Charis House, a re-entry facility for men recovering from alcohol and drug abuse.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Council Approves Budget to Invest in Core City Services, Save Fire Stations, Invest in Economic Development

I am most proud of our ability to fund these critical city services without the use of one-time fixes. We are still suffering the consequences of last year’s budget, where a majority of the Council, myself not included, chose to incorporate anticipated proceeds from the sale of the Coliseum to fund essential services. Since the sale has still not yet been completed, the lack of funds led to drastic cuts in city services, including the temporary closure of fire stations, staff layoffs, and the cancellations of many service contracts.

Published

6 days ago

June 14, 2025

Oakland Post

District 4 Oakland City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran. Photo courtesy City of Oakland.

By Janani Ramachandran, District 4 Oakland City Councilmember

On Wednesday, June 11, City Council took a bold step to prioritize investing in essential city services to get our beautiful Town back on track. As Chair of the Finance Committee, I am proud to have led a collaborative process, alongside Councilmembers Rowena Brown, Zac Unger, and Charlene Wang, to develop a set of amendments to the proposed FY 2025-2027 budget which passed successfully with a vote of 6 – 1. Despite facing a $265 million structural budget deficit, we were able to restore funding to ensure that all 25 fire stations remain open, fund 5 police academies, invest millions of dollars to combat illegal dumping and sideshow prevention, improve our permitting processes, fund a “business incentives” program to revitalize our commercial corridors, improve upon our homelessness prevention work, amplify the city’s anti-trafficking programs, re-instate our tree services division, staff up our Auditor’s office – all while preventing any layoffs of city staff, keeping our senior centers and after-school programs open, and crisis services like MACRO funded.

Our budget comes in response to the widespread and consistent calls from across Oakland’s diverse communities asking us to prioritize funding solutions to the issues that have most directly impacted our residents’ safety and quality of life. Our priorities are also inspired by our belief that Oakland is on the way not only to financial recovery, but also to global recognition. Oakland can attract and preserve businesses of all sizes with safer, cleaner streets. We can and will have more large-scale festivals that celebrate our culture, concerts that uplift our incredible local musicians, conferences that attract patrons from across the world, and award-winning restaurants that top national charts. We are on our way to rebuilding a thriving economy and having a cultural renaissance will create more jobs for Oaklanders while also generating more revenue for the City through sales and business taxes.

I am grateful for the close partnership with our new Mayor Barbara Lee, and know that she shares our values of ensuring we are prioritizing keeping Oakland’s residents safe, our streets clean, and our businesses prosperous in an open and fiscally responsible manner. I am also thankful to our City Administrator, Jestin Johnson, and former Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins’ efforts to produce the initial proposal that our Council budget team used as a starting point for our amendments, and for their shared commitment to transparency and ethical government. I am especially grateful for every resident that took the time to make their voice heard throughout this rigorous budget process. I have no doubt that we are on the verge of true change, and that together we will bring Oakland back to being the world-class city I know it can be.