its criticism of the imperfect application of service race
policies--some service-wide, others confined to certain bases--the
committee reported to the President that the services had made "an
intelligent and far-reaching advance toward complete integration, and,
with some variations from service to service, substantial progress
toward equality of treatment and opportunity."[21-36] Gesell called
the services the nation's "pace setter," and he was convinced that
they had not received sufficient credit for their racial achievements,
which were "way ahead of General Motors and the other great
corporations."[21-37] That the services were more advanced than other
segments of American society in terms of equal treatment and
opportunity was beyond dispute; nevertheless, serious problems
connected with racial prejudice and the armed forces' failure to
understand the fundamental needs of black servicemen remained. The
committee's investigation, with its emphasis on off-base realities and
its dependence on statistics and other empirical data, did not lend
itself to more than a superficial treatment of these subtle and
stubborn, if unmeasurable, on-base problems.

[Footnote 21-36: "Initial Rpt," p. 10.]

[Footnote 21-37: Interv, author with Gesell, 3 Nov
74.]

The committee believed that some of what appeared discriminatory was
in reality the working of such factors as the black serviceman's lack
of seniority, deficiencies in education, and lack of interest in
specific fields and assignments. Looking beyond these, the fruits of
institutional racism, the committee concluded that much of the
substantiated discrimination disclosed in its investigations had
proved to be limited in scope. But whether limited or widespread,
discrimination had to be eliminated. Prompt attention to even minor
incidents of discrimination would contribute substantially to morale
and serve to keep before all servicemen the standard of conduct
decreed by executive policy.[21-38]

[Footnote 21-38: "Initial Rpt," pp. 10-11, 30, 51.]

The committee was considerably less sanguine over conditions
encountered by black servicemen off military bases. In eloquent
paragraphs it outlined for the President the injustices suffered by
these men and their families in some American communities, the effect
of these practices on morale, and the consequent danger to the mission
of the armed force