A Soldier's Play

“Y’all ain’t neva’ had nothin’, that’s why you can’t understand a man like me! There was a time I was a sergeant major, you know!”

Wilkie is in his 40s and spent 10 years earning stripes and a higher rank only to be knocked down to a regular private over a single mistake. When the other men tease him for kissing up to Waters, he points out that they’re all fresh enlistees who can’t understand what it’s like to build a career only to suddenly reset back to square one. Although Wilkie isn’t the murderer, his story is just one example of how Waters and The Tragedy of Internalized Racism impacts them all.

“You go near that sheriff’s office in Tynin in your uniform—carrying a briefcase, looking and sounding white, and charging local people—and you’ll be found just as dead as Sergeant Waters! People around here don’t respect the colored!”

Taylor is referring to the local townspeople as not respecting Black people, but that attitude extends onto the base as well, reflecting The Endemic Nature of Racism. Notably, Taylor describes Davenport as “looking and sounding white,” yet his “colored” skin is enough to provoke his murder. This contradicts Waters’s entire crusade about Black men and respectability, as he would certainly see Davenport as a model for Black men.

“I don’t want to offend you, but I just cannot get used to it—the bars, the uniform—being in charge just doesn’t look right on Negroes!”

Taylor considers himself a champion for the Black men who serve under him, even claiming that his insistence on justice for Waters is stifling his career. However, he quickly demonstrates after meeting Davenport that he is only accepting of Black men if they are of inferior rank.