[Footnote 9-52: See Testimony of Lester Granger and
Assistant Secretary Brown at National Defense
Conference on Negro Affairs, 26 Apr 48, morning
session, pp. 45-46; and Memo, Nelson for Marx Leva,
24 May 48, copy in Nelson Archives.]

[Illustration: NAVAL UNIT PASSES IN REVIEW, _Naval Advanced Base,
Bremerhaven, Germany, 1949_.]

Several reasons were suggested for this attitude. Assistant Secretary
Brown placed the blame, at least in part, on the gap between policy
and practice. Because of delay in abolishing old discriminatory
practices, he pointed out to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations,
"the Navy's good public relations are endangered."[9-53] The personnel
bureau promptly investigated, found justification for complaints (p. 250)
of discrimination, and took corrective action.[9-54] Yet, as Nelson
pointed out, such corrections, often in the form of "clarifying
directives," were usually directed to specific commanders and tied to
specific incidents and were ignored by other commanders as
inapplicable to their own racial experiences.[9-55] Despite the
existence of the racially separate Steward's Branch, the Navy's policy
seemed so unassailable to the Chief of Naval Personnel that when his
views on a congressional measure to abolish segregation in the
services were solicited he reported without reservation that his
bureau interposed no objection.[9-56]

[Footnote 9-53: Memo, Asst SecNav for Air for Dep
CNO, 3 Feb 48, sub: Racial Discrimination, P1-4
(8), GenRecsNav.]

[Footnote 9-54: See Memo, Chief, NavPers, for CO, USS
_Grand Canyon_ (AD 28), 17 Dec 48, sub: Navy
Department's Non Discrimination Policy--Alleged
Violation of, P14; Ltr, Chief, NavPers, to Cmdt,
Twelfth Nav Dist, 27 Feb 46, sub: Officer Screening
Procedure and Indoctrination Course in the
Supervision of Negro Personnel--Establishment of,
Pers 4221; both in BuPersRecs.]

[Footnote 9-55: Memo, Nelson for Chief, NavPers, 29
Nov 48, sub: Complaint of Navy Enlisted Man Made to
Pittsburgh Courier..., PR221, BuPersRecs.]

[Footnote 9-56: Memo, Chief, NavPers, for JAG, 11 Feb