HBO's "The Pacific" Leaves Out The History Of Black Soldiers in the Pacific during WW II
It took me less than 5 minutes to find these photographs and accompanying information online. So why are blacks almost (if not completely) absent from HBO's 10-part series?
The HBO Series, "The Pacific" was produced by Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks. HBO is a billion-dollar corporation, Tom Hanks is a multi-millionaire and Steven Spielberg is a virtual billionaire-- Are we to believe they could not afford a professional group of researchers and that they didn't know about the role that American blacks played in the Pacific during World War II?
This was a deliberate omission. Such omissions distort the facts and add to the often bigoted misconception of the role of blacks in American history. We need to know why Hollywood and HBO believes you can only tell a story about heroic men during World War II if the cast is kept almost exclusively white. Spielberg and Hanks need to explained why they deliberately decided to relegate blacks to minor or NO roles in a 10-part HBO series about war in The Pacific.
THIS SLIDE SHOW IS DEDICATED TO THE BLACK MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED AND DIED IN THE PACIFIC DURING WORLD WAR II.
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BLACKS WERE DELIBERATELY LEFT OUT OF "THE PACIFIC"
Noted novelist and screen writer, George Pelecanos, worked on "The Pacific" early during its production. His comments were recounted in a story written by Carlo Rotella and published in the "Washington Post."
"Pelecanos told me a story about a script meeting for 'The Pacific,' HBO's companion piece to its World War II combat miniseries 'Band of Brothers.' One reason he accepted the invitation to write for 'The Pacific,' which is scheduled to air in 2009, was to honor his father's service to his country, but that didn't cause him to shy away from ugly complexity. 'Somebody at this meeting brings up the fact that we don't have any black major characters, and then somebody else says that the military was still segregated, and blacks were often forced to do menial jobs instead of fighting. So, I said, how about a scene in which the guys are watching black soldiers clean up the bodies on a landing beach, and they say, 'Look at those niggers. They've got it so easy, they never have to fight'? These are the heroes, characters we care about, and yet they're saying these terrible things, because that's true to what it would have been like.' It was too much, even for HBO. 'There was this long pause,' during which the rest of the creative team considered presenting the heroes of the Greatest Generation as bigots. 'Nobody said a word, and after a while they just went on to something else like I'd never spoken.'"
The article is available HERE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/15/AR20080715021...
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CLINT EASTWOOD WAS INFORMED ABOUT THE ROLE OF BLACK SOLDIERS DURING THE BATTLE OF IWO JIMA BUT CHOSE TO DELIBERATELY LEAVE THEM OUT OF HIS FILM, "FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS"
The title of the article speaks volumes: "Where have all the black soldiers gone? African-Americans written out of Pacific War in Clint Eastwood's new film, veterans say." The name of Eastwood's film was "Flags of our Fathers" and apparently Eastwood only wanted to honor WHITE fathers.
Black veteran of Iwo Jima, Thomas McPhatter, sums up what many black World War II veterans feel about being left out of this important segment of American history. Speaking to the UK reporter about Clint Eastwood's film ("The Guardian" is published in the UK) McPhatter says, "This is the last straw. I feel like I've been denied, I've been insulted, I've been mistreated. But what can you do? We still have a strong underlying force in my country of rabid racism."
In the article, researcher Melton McLaurin points out that there were "hundreds of black soldiers on Iwo Jima from the first day of the 35-day battle." In fact, the record shows that almost 900 blacks took part in the battle of Iwo Jima. McLaurin explains how the white photographers who were there refused to film the black fighting men.
Read the entire story HERE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/oct/21/usa.filmnews
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This video also available for viewing at full resolution (and can be downloaded in three different formats) at the Internet Archive:
http://www.archive.org/details/ThePacificTheWarriorsThatHboForgot
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THREE FRONTS: Testimonies of Black American World War Two Veterans by LILI BERNARDby kuumbajah1,589 views
Bit different in the pacific. The locals were amazed how well they were treated by all the Americans. The CBs were thought of as heroes. I dont think the Japanese American soldier is less remembered as is suggested, there campaign feats in Europe are legendary.Thankfully the world has moved on. The fight against racism is being won and has come a long way in less than a generation at lot further than most of us oldies would have thought possible.
wazzazv614 5 days ago
my great grandfather was a black US Marine in the battle of peleliu and he and his unit faught side by side with the the white Marines.
1945iwo 5 months ago
Well they were telling the story of a specific group of Marines. Not Every Marine ever. Band Of Brothers leaft out the Army Air Corps..........because they weren't part of the story.
CaptainAmerica322 5 months ago
@B17Boy But truth is not demonizing!!! I don't expect Hollyweird to tell the truth for they rarely do. But I've known about Blackmen fighting in World War II since I was a boy because my father is a World War II veteran. He served with the 761st Tank Battalion in Europe. The military was racist and most of the white officers leading the Black troops were redneck southern nitwits with the brain power of a doorknob. Blackmen caught hell! The only time the US calls us American is when there's a war
gjohnsoningary 5 months ago
Before we demonize, let us remember that during WWII the military was segregated. For those interested, you can thank Woodrow Wilson for that. Teddy Roosevelt and Taft integrated the U.S. gov't. Wilson re-segregated the gov't when he was elected in 1912. It took Truman, and the efforts and sacrifices of the black soldiers, the Tuskegee Airmen, the 442nd Regimental Combat team, etc., to show that Americans are Americans and will fight for their freedom, no matter their color. That's what I know.
B17Boy 6 months ago
@JENDALL714 Sir
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team fought with honor and was a great help during WWII. But the African American has fought in every war in America and Mr. Crispus Attucks was the first to die in the Boston Massacre March 5th, 1770. We should honor all Americans equally and proudly it was not just one race that helped to make America great but all Americans working together which is helping to make the American dream come true for us all. Peace
1banryukyu 6 months ago
The Japanese American soldiers are probably more forgotten than the black soldiers! The Japanese American soldiers in the MIS helped to end the war early in the Pacific because they knew the language and could get the enemy to surrender! The Japanese Americans in Europe were the most decorated fighting battalion during the war! Talk about forgotten!
JENDALL714 7 months ago
OMG I think I see my father in one of the group pix! Thank you!! He was a Marine in WWII from 1943 - 47 in the Pacific.
coachingwithcrystal 7 months ago
you know, there is a big different with he-who-defends-the-country and he-who-makes-a-lot-of-money....
watanabe757 7 months ago
@phil516 You should record Mr.Snail video or an interview about his war time experience
SuperTopa123 11 months ago