All I can tell you about it is what I observed myself. There were plenty of racists and racism, but the official policy of the Army strongly deprecated it. The ranks were integrated -- the company I was in was for quite a while more than half Black -- and the overt racists were risking both their careers, because of official disapproval, and their lives, because of the likelihood of fragging. Therefore, I reasoned that Gritz might have concealed the racist convictions I said he did not display. We're talking about the Infantry; the large part of the military who do not anticipate the possibility of direct combat may feel freer to exhibit their prejudices.