Black-White and American-Vietnamese Relations among Soldiers in Vietnam

An anonymous questionnaire was administered to assess the attitudes and perceptions of 126 black and 359 white soldiers returned from Vietnam as to both black‐white and American‐Vietnamese relations within that country. Factor scores developed for each of these two areas served as the dependent variables. Overall, blacks, and especially younger blacks, held a more negative view of the racial climate than did whites. Black‐white relationships were reported to be better in Vietnam than in the U.S., especially among soldiers who served in actual combat. Blacks reported less negative attitudes toward the Vietnamese than did whites. Soldiers in combat (versus noncombat‐support) units perceived the American‐Vietnamese relationship more negatively.