There Is No Dishonor in Desertion: Army Racial Intolerance and African-American Soldiers' Desertion
type: CreativeWork
description: The thesis focuses on a study concerning the desertion of African-American soldiers from the United States Army. The data were collected from the period covering the War of Independence to the mid-1960s of the Cold War. The study proposes that there are limits to which these soldiers cannot bear the burden of combat and the simultaneous fight against institutionalized racism. Some men endured their circumstances in spite of pervasive intolerance, but others simply could not make sense of the inconsistencies of their government's requirement for them to fight yet deny them basic human rights. The men believed they had the right to full citizenship, as they fought and died in defense of America. The study demonstrates that the threat of punishment or the actual use of it is not an effective deterrent to desertion when the deserters' ultimate motivation for absconding their military obligation is liberty.
abstract: The thesis focuses on a study concerning the desertion of African-American soldiers from the United States Army. The data were collected from the period covering the War of Independence to the mid-1960s of the Cold War. The study proposes that there are limits to which these soldiers cannot bear the burden of combat and the simultaneous fight against institutionalized racism. Some men endured their circumstances in spite of pervasive intolerance, but others simply could not make sense of the inconsistencies of their government's requirement for them to fight yet deny them basic human rights. The men believed they had the right to full citizenship, as they fought and died in defense of America. The study demonstrates that the threat of punishment or the actual use of it is not an effective deterrent to desertion when the deserters' ultimate motivation for absconding their military obligation is liberty.
author: Wallace, Steve
keywords: African American Soldiers, Desertion, Intolerance, Liberty, Racial Violence, Racism, History
date published: 2012-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:05:22Z
provider: University of Mississippi
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Mississippi