Twelfth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

In 1951, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia sent his personal battalion of bodyguards to the front lines of the Korean War as part of a collective United Nations (U.N.) effort to prevent the southern government from falling to communist forces. The multinational intervention in Korea assuaged the fears of leaders from the “third world” who worried that the U.N. would be as ineffective as the previous League of Nations. The participation of nineteen member countries not only demonstrated the power behind U.N. resolutions, but also allowed smaller nation-states outside the Western world a voice on the international stage. As an independent African nation, Ethiopia’s participation in the Korean War was particularly important. Motivated by anti-colonial and anti-racist sentiment, Ethiopians fought to demonstrate the sovereignty of Ethiopia and challenge worldwide notions of African inferiority. Fighting side-by-side with American troops, black Ethiopian soldiers helped abolish the rational for racial segregation and discrimination in military units. The dismantling of systemic racism in the United States and elsewhere must be interpreted in an international context. This paper explores the role of Ethiopian soldiers in challenging systemic racism on the international stage and in the United States. Ethiopia’s commitment to collective security and challenge to the international system of racism during the Korea War can only be clearly understood within a wider globalized framework. Examining the interaction between high-ranking U.S. generals, who spearheaded the U.N. effort in Korea, and the fighting men of Ethiopia sheds light on the broader legacy of the Kagnew forces.