Negroes More Likely to Be Certified for Service Than Whites, 1918

From Trench and Camp, printed weekly for the Y.M.C.A. by courtesy of the Charlotte Observer for Camp Greene, Charlotte, N.C., February 4, 1918

Colored Men Doing Their Bit

That America’s colored citizenry is doing its bit in the war is established by statistics culled from the compiled figures on the first draft. Of the total of 9,586,508 men registered last June, 737,628, or nearly 8 per cent, were colored. Twenty-eight per cent of these colored men, or 208,953, were called by draft boards and 75,697 were certified for service. This means that out of every 100 colored men called, 36 were certified for service and 64 rejected, exempted or discharged.

In the cases of the white citizens, 25 out of every 100 were certified for service and 75 rejected, exempted or discharged.