, only six black candidates survived this process
to win commissions in 1948.

[Footnote 9-43: Norfolk _Journal and Guide_, August
20, 1949.]

Lester Granger blamed the lack of black candidates on the fact that so
few Negroes attended the schools; undoubtedly, more Negroes would have
been enrolled in reserve officer training had the program been
established at one of the predominantly black colleges. But black
institutions were excluded from the wartime V-12 program, and when the
program was extended to include fifty-two colleges in November 1945
the Navy again rejected the applications of black schools, justifying
the exclusion, as it did for many white schools, on grounds of
inadequacies in enrollment, academic credentials, and physical
facilities.[9-44] Some black spokesmen called the decision
discriminatory. President Mordecai Johnson of Howard University
ruefully wondered how the Navy's unprejudiced and nondiscriminatory
selection of fifty-two colleges managed to exclude so neatly all black
institutions.[9-45]

[Footnote 9-44: Ltr, SecNav to William T. Farley,
Chmn, Civilian Components Policy Bd, DOD, 4 Mar 50,
Q4, GenRecsNav.]

[Footnote 9-45: Statement of Dr. Mordecai Johnson at
National Defense Conference on Negro Affairs, 26
Apr 48, morning session, p. 42.]

Others disagreed. From the first the Special Programs Unit had
rejected the clamor for forming V-12 units in predominantly black
colleges, arguing that in the long run this could be considered
enforced segregation and hardly contribute to racial harmony. Although
candidates were supposed to attend the NROTC school of their choice,
black candidates were restricted to institutions that would accept
them. If a black school was added to the program, all black candidates
would very likely gravitate toward it. Several black spokesmen,
including Nelson, took this attitude and urged instead a campaign to
increase the number of Negroes at the various integrated schools in
the NROTC system.[9-46] Whatever the best solution, a significant and
speedy increase in the number of black officers was unlikely.

[Footnote 9-46: Ltr, Nelson to author, 10 Feb 70; see
also "BuPersHist," p. 84.]

Of lesser moment because of the small size of the WAVES and the Nurse
Corps, the role of