{"id":59062,"date":"2021-11-14T18:56:27","date_gmt":"2021-11-14T18:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/11\/14\/legislation-targets-gi-bill-racial-inequities\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:48:17","slug":"legislation-targets-gi-bill-racial-inequities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/11\/14\/legislation-targets-gi-bill-racial-inequities\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislation targets GI Bill racial inequities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A group of Democratic lawmakers is reviving an effort to pay the families of Black service members who fought on behalf of the nation during World War II for benefits they were denied or prevented from taking full advantage of when they returned home from war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new legislative effort<\/a>, introduced in honor of Veterans Day, would benefit surviving spouses and all living descendants of Black WWII veterans whose families were denied the opportunity to build wealth with housing and educational benefits through the GI Bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1944, those benefits have been offered to millions of veterans transitioning to civilian life. But due to racism and discrimination in how they were granted through local Veterans Affairs offices, many Black WWII veterans received substantially less money toward purchasing a home or continuing their education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A House version was introduced by Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the Democratic majority whip, and Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity for America to repair an egregious fault,\u201d said Clyburn of the bill introduced last week. \u201cHopefully it can also begin to lay a foundation that will help break the cycle of poverty among those people who are the descendants of those who made sacrifices to preserve this democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moulton, a Marine veteran who served four tours during the Iraq War, said: \u201cThere are a lot of Black Americans who are feeling the effects of this injustice today, even though it was originally perpetrated 70 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that restoring GI Bill benefits is one of the greatest racial justice issues of our time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Senate bill was to be introduced later this month by Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, the son of a WWII veteran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve all seen how these inequities have trickled down over time,\u201d Warnock said, adding that the bill \u201crepresents a major step toward righting this injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation, authored by Moulton, would extend the VA Loan Guaranty Program and GI Bill educational assistance to Black WWII veterans and their descendants who are alive at the time of the bill\u2019s enactment. It would also create a panel of independent experts to study inequities in how benefits are administered to women and people of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FILE – World War II veteran Lawrence Brooks holds a photo of him taken in 1943, as he celebrates his 110th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, on Sept. 12, 2019. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lawrence Brooks<\/a>, who at 112 years old is the oldest living U.S. veteran, was drafted to serve during WWII and assigned to the mostly-Black 91st Engineer General Service Regiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Louisiana native, who has 12 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren, always believed that serving his country was the only way he could leave behind his life as the son of sharecroppers, said his daughter, Vanessa Brooks.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\t