The source is a brief paragraph that gives a reader an understanding of what was happening with African-Americans’ conditions in army service. The report of Indianapolis Freeman recruitment in Connecticut shows the event in 1898 (The American Yawp Reader, n.d.). The problem of inequality and discrimination is raised.
A significant number of African-Americans served in the troops of the American army. They were recruited to participate in Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars (The American Yawp Reader, n.d.). Some felt enthusiastic about protecting their country, but the vast majority saw extremely unjust attitudes toward them. Such a situation provoked a downfall in soldiers’ feelings and bore a high rate of skepticism and disappointment. In the report, they stated that they were not willing to protect the country, which was not able to protect them. The further elaboration of the report shows the readers that the injustice towards men of color was significant (The American Yawp Reader, n.d.). Soldiers lost their motivation to serve in the Wars because the government of the United States disregarded their rights and claimed that the attitude to their families was peaceful (The American Yawp Reader, n.d.). African-Americans even compared their rights to the Spanish ones, who were treated much better than those in the United States. The soldiers suffered inequality and were unwilling to sacrifice their own lives in such unfair conditions, so they decided to express their opinion in this report.
Conclusively, the African-Americans loved their country because they strongly desired to protect it. At the same time, they were indignant because they wanted to be equal to other citizens. So, the requisition from their side was stated, where they expressed the desire to take up arms only when the government guaranteed their rights.
References
The American Yawp Reader (n.d.). African Americans Debate Enlistment (1898). Web.