How did racial segregation affect the Harlem Hellfighters during training in the United States?

The Harlem Hellfighters, originally the 15th New York (Colored) Infantry Regiment, faced systemic racial segregation and discrimination throughout their training in the United States.

During their mobilization, the regiment was intentionally held apart from other units. For instance, they were excluded from a farewell parade for the "Rainbow Division" in New York City, with the exclusionary justification that "black is not a color of the rainbow."1

The situation worsened when the unit was ordered to Camp Wadsworth in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in October 1917. There, the soldiers were subjected to routine verbal abuse and harassment by the local white population. Tensions were high due to the recent history of racial violence against African American soldiers, such as the 1906 Brownsville Affair and the 1917 Houston riot. The environment became so volatile that the regiment's commander, William Hayward, appealed to the secretary of war to relocate or deploy the unit to France to prevent a potential tragedy. This tension manifested in physical confrontations, including an assault on a member of the regiment, which nearly escalated into a larger violent clash between the 15th and a neighboring white unit.1