Buffalo Soldier - Systemic Prejudice

Systemic Prejudice

The "Buffalo Soldiers" were often confronted with racial prejudice from other members of the U.S. Army. Civilians in the areas where the soldiers were stationed occasionally reacted to them with violence. Buffalo Soldiers were attacked during racial disturbances in Rio Grande City, Texas in 1899, Brownsville, Texas in 1906, and Houston, Texas in 1917.

General of the Armies John J. Pershing is a controversial figure regarding the Buffalo Soldiers. He served with the 10th Cavalry from October 1895 to May 1897. He served again with them for less than six months in Cuba. Because he saw the "Buffalo Soldiers" as good soldiers, he was looked down upon and called "Nigger Jack" by white cadets and officers at West Point. It was only later during the Spanish-American War that the press changed that insulting term to "Black Jack." During World War I Pershing bowed to the racial policies of President of the United States Woodrow Wilson, Secretary of War Newton D. Baker and the southern Democratic Party with its "separate but equal" philosophy. For the first time in American history, Pershing allowed American soldiers (African-Americans) to be under the command of a foreign power.