Welles, Benjamin. "Negroes Expected to Make Up 30% of Draft 'Salvage'."
New York Times, August 25, 1966. P. 1, 6.
Robert MacNamara's plan to "salvage" those intitially rejected from military
service, based on low physical or mental test scores, was expected to consist of 30%
African-Americans. Termed "Project 100,000," the project was put forth by the
Defense Department as a type of social program in that it was to help the uneducated and
poor obtain opportunities to advance their status. The resulting opportunity too often
though was death in Vietnam. In this the first year of the program, 40,000 men were
expected to be recruited through the lower standards (lowered to include the equivalent
of a fifth grade education). A meeting held in Harlem sponsored by Harlem Youth Unlimited
entitled "Youth Wants To Know" was an opportunity for many of the speakers to
attack "Project 100,000." Speakers included major representatives from such
groups as SNCC (Stokely Carmichael) and CORE (Floyd McKissick).
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