Mack Jr., Pearle W, Gary D Rhay, Timeless Media Group, and Denver Collins. Pearle W. Mack, Jr. Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05764
This interview with Pearl Mack, Jr. sheds light on the impact of African Americans’ contributions to the United States military in the twentieth century. It is a first-hand account of the challenges and hardships many African American soldiers faced in attempting to enlist, during training, and during deployment. Pearl W. Mack, Jr. served in three wars: Vietnam, World War II, and the Korean War. There are opportunities for teachers to explore these experiences through a geographic lens in a social studies course in which geography is a curriculum focus. This primary source also provides secondary English language arts teachers focusing on argument, perspective, and research an opportunity to explore these rhetorical devices by engaging students in inquiry and encouraging their use of critical thinking skills.
This interview is Pearle W. Mack, Jr.’s vivid account of experiences as he sought to enlist in the United States Army. The challenges he faced throughout the span of three wars and thirty years range in severity.
- At a time when African Americans experienced the challenges and hardships of racial discrimination and segregation, the United States military was no different. The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, Pearle W. Mack, Jr. decided he wanted to enlist in the United States’ military. This potential voluntary enlistment was frowned upon and instead, like many other African Americans seeking to enlist, Pearle W. Mack, Jr. was turned away.
- Despite fighting for their country, many African American soldiers experienced injustices, dealt with segregation, and had to work for equal treatment while justifying their right to fight and support the war effort.
- What significant challenges did Pearle W. Mack, Jr. and other African American soldiers face during war?
- How did Europeans perceive African Americans?
- What was it like for African Americans to have fought and served their country only to receive a negative reception upon returning home to the United States?
- How does Pearle W. Mack, Jr. describe the slow change of conditions for African Americans over the span of his career?
- How might this individual account offer a different perspective of the traditional posters and propaganda we see about war?
South Carolina Social Studies College-and Career-Ready Standards
E: Evidence Identify, interpret, and utilize different forms of evidence, including primary and secondary sources, used in an inquiry based study of history.
- As students come to understand the impact of the experiences African American men faced in multiple wars while fighting and serving for the United States Army, students can use this resource as evidence. Students can use inquiry to engage further with the narratives of the young African American men serving in different wars.
3.E Analyze multiple perspectives on the economic, political, and social effects of World War II and its aftermath using primary and secondary sources.
- Using the personal narrative of Pearle W. Mack, Jr. who served in Vietnam, World War II, and the Korean War, teachers can focus on different experiences that led to his perspective on the social effects of the three wars in which he served.
OE.2 Acquire, refine, and share knowledge through a variety of multimedia literacies to include written, oral, visual, digital, and interactive texts
- Students can review and analyze digital, oral, and written information presented on Pearle W. Mack, Jr. and other African American soldiers as part of the “African Americans at War: Pioneers” Library of Congress collection.
R.1: Use critical thinking skills to investigate, evaluate, and synthesize a variety of sources to obtain and refine knowledge. :
- Responding to the focus questions, students can engage in critical thinking skills to investigate and evaluate Pearle W. Mack, Jr.’s experiences and synthesize them through the information they have learned.
- Before choosing to show clips or the video interview in its entirety, teachers can present on traditional propaganda posters from World War II using lesson on Argument, Persuasian, or Propaganda. After learning about Pearle W. Mack, Jr.’s perspective, how does it differ or align with the information in the presentation on Argument, Persuasion, or Propaganda?
- Teacher’s can use Pearle W. Mack, Jr.’s interview as the basis for a lesson on developing evidence-based arguments from text.
This resource may be challenged because it exposes the United States’ military’s exclusionary practices. Some might object to this negative portrayal of the military. The interview provides a detailed account of Pearle W. Mack, Jr.’s experiences during his career in the Army. He speaks of extreme violence against him and other African American soldiers who were shot at by civilians, experienced death, and, upon returning home to find work, often faced violent disputes, lynchings, and killings. He also recounts being denied access to the officer’s club because of his race.
- Pearle W. Mack, Jr. Collection: Handwritten interview notes - Handwritten notes from the interview provide a detailed account of Pearle W. Mack Jr.’s experiences.
- Rutherford Vincent Brice Collection - Rutherford Vincent Brice spent almost twenty-five years in the armed forces, first in the segregated Navy, where he lucked into a position as an aviation machinist.
- NAACP Photographs of African American Soldiers in the Army, during World War II
- The New York Times has personal narratives about Black soldiers returning from war: Returning From War, Returning to Racism