In this flashback episode of Lovecraft Country set during the Korean War1, the audience is introduced to Atticus Freeman’s experiences as a Black soldier in a foreign country and the gumiho (or kumiho, a nine-tailed fox-spirit woman), with whom he fell in love.
Black Soldiers in Korea
A major theme in the episode is the tension felt by Black and Asian-American soldiers fighting other people of color on behalf of a nation which denies them full citizenship.2 The institution of which they were a part, the United States’ Armed Forces, was formally segregated through the end of WWII.3 Even within desegregated regiments, people of color experienced racial discrimination from other members. The pamphlet Jim Crow “Justice” in Korea, found in Black history ephemera, 1903-1977, focuses on the case of Lieutenant Leon Gilbert, a decorated WWII veteran and officer in the all-Black 24th Infantry Regiment. In 1950, Gilbert was sentenced to death for refusing an order he considered suicidal, not far from Daegu. According to medical and psychiatric testimony quoted in the pamphlet:
Lt. Gilbert, repeatedly demonstrated courage by returning from hospitals to the front in Italy and reenlisting with a silver plate in his head.
and
…In January 1945, while serving with the 92nd Division in Italy, Lt. Gilbert was examined by the Division psychiatrist because of his intolerance to artillery fire. At that time it was recommended that Lt. Gilbert be assigned to rear area duties and this was done for the remainder of the war. It would seem that Lt. Gilbert’s nervous condition at that time was similar to that which developed in the present conflict.
In covering the Gilbert case, the pamphlet also addresses the treatment of Black soldiers more generally during the Korean War. Following public outcry, Gilbert’s case was commuted to 20 years hard labor, but the case haunted him and his family until his death in 1999.
Our Special Collections includes a scrapbook created by members of the 24th Regiment during the occupation of Japan.
Authorized by Congress in 1866 and activated on November 1, 1869, the 24th Infantry Regiment was one of four all-Black regiments created after the Civil War. Their history reflects the tension shown in the episode. Initially known as “Buffalo soldiers,” this regiment was used by the US government to support western expansion and participated in the displacement of Native peoples. During the Spanish-American War, the regiment was used to suppress an anti-colonial Filipino resistance. In 1917, after a soldier from the 24th was arrested for intervening in the beating of a Black woman, hostilities between the 24th Regiment and the white Houston establishment led to the The Logan Mutiny. The unit remained composed of Black enlisted men and mostly white officers until it was dissolved in 1951, shortly after Gilbert’s sentencing.
Mythology and Fiction
In Lovecraft Country, the character Ji-Ah is revealed to be a gumiho who devours the soul essence and futures of men as revenge for what was done to the real Ji-Ah. The gumiho (구미호) of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese folklore is a nine-tailed fox spirit, which can transform into a woman and feed on the organs of their victims. GlitterShip. Year Two, part of our Science Fiction Collection, contains “Cooking with Closed Mouths” by Kerry Truong. In the story, a non-binary gumiho learns the art of cooking food they can never taste. The story can also be read or listened to on the Glittership episode page.
The Afro-French writer Alexandre Dumas’ classic The Count of Monte Cristo recurs throughout the series as characters escape prison cells and contemplate revenge. During this episode, Ji-Ah plans a Monte Cristo-esque revenge against Atticus for executing her best friend. Special Collections has several copies of this book, including one with engraved illustrations by Lynd Ward (image above). Lynd Ward was an artist and author known for creating wood engravings, a relief printing process in which portions of a wooden block are carved away, leaving only the image to be printed. See more of his engravings, including the illustration for a 1934 edition of Frankenstein, in our Lynd Ward digital collection.
Continue reading about Episode 7 : I am.
Footnotes
1. For those interested in Penn State’s connections with post-war Korea, the papers of Penn State professor of speech and rhetoric Robert T. Oliver may be of interest (request via the catalog). The collection includes drafts of Dr. Oliver’s writings on former Korean president Syngman Rhee. Initially a researcher of Asian rhetorical traditions, Dr. Oliver became an advisor to the Korean Commission in Washington, to the Korean delegation to the United Nations at Lake Success and Paris, and to Rhee, who was also a close friend. In addition to his works on speech, Oliver authored several books on Rhee and Korea, including Syngman Rhee: The Man Behind the Myth, Verdict in Korea, and Why War Came to Korea. return
2. After risking life and limb for a nation that denied them full citizenship, Black veterans like Young returned with rising expectations for democracy and declining tolerance for Jim Crow. “This is what started changing,” explained Stokes. “Men vowed, ‘If I go to Korea, or Vietnam, I’m damn sure not going to go back home to nothing like the other soldiers did in World War One and Two.'” (The Deacons for Defense : armed resistance and the civil rights movement, page 201; quotation from New Orleans Times-Picayune).
According to Wikipedia, “the Deacons for Defense and Justice were co-founded by Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick in Jonesboro, Louisiana in 1964 to protect the Black community against white violence.”
It goes on to say, “Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick (1933–1986) was an African-American musician, Civil rights activist, and minister from Haynesville, Louisiana. In 1972, Kirkpatrick recorded Ballads of Black America, as lead singer and guitar, with Pete Seeger, playing banjo, and Jeanne Humphries on bass. This was also for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. He wrote and composed the songs about leading figures of Black history, after learning at a 1969 performance in a Brooklyn school, that Black children had few books and music that taught about the contributions of their people to the United States and the world.” Kirkpatrick’s ballads honor Benjamin Banneker, Paul Robeson, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Satchel Paige, Martin Luther King, and the Deacons for Defense and Justice.” return
3. For images of Black soldiers in World War (1914-1918), please reference the following images from our World War I glass plate stereographs digital collection: Soldats noirs Américains; Enterrement d’un soldat noir Américain (Burial of a Black American soldier); and Argonne – Enterrement Américain (American burial). return
4. Our Research Services team maintains approximately 1500 access scans illustrating 45 archival collections. These scans are separate from and complimentary to Penn State’s Digital Collections. Our access scans focus primarily on civil rights and social justice, labor and working class history, and African American life and culture. Highlights include: the Robert Joyce papers; the Thomas W. Benson collection : Confront the war makers : March on Washington, D.C. against the Vietnam War (1961-1975); Greyhound celebrates Black history month posters, and all Black history ephemera materials. For more information, contact Research Services.