SERVING AMERICA: IN WHAT CONTEXT?
SERVING AMERICA: IN WHAT CONTEXT?
By Oscar Blayton
In 1735 when the French colonists of Louisiana pursued the Natchez War against Native Americans, they mustered free and enslaved African Americans into two military companies that came to be known as the Corps D’Afrique.
The soldiers of the Corps D’Afrique fought against Indigenous People as well as against Africans who had fled slavery to live in freedom among the Natchez.
The paradox of Black folk in America standing on both sides of a conflict where white supremacy plays a part spans the entire history of this nation.