Post-War America: Global Dominance and Questions of Freedom

The years after World War II witnessed global dominance by the United States and established the US as the single most powerful nation postwar. Henry R. Luce wrote The American Century as a prophesy for American influence postwar while Charles H. Wesley questioned the freedoms for nonwhites in The Negro Has Always Wanted the Four Freedoms. The United States shifted into new postwar roles, as did nonwhites who wondered if the freedoms spoken about applied to them.

Previously, the United States and its citizens closely held to the beliefs of isolationism and non-interventionalism. These beliefs stem from George Washington’s 1796 farewell address where he stated, “… to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world…”

Racism was the enemy’s philosophy while Americanism pushed for toleration of diversity and equality for all. All the while nonwhite Americans had restricted freedoms and rights in the United States. This contradiction of thought would be known as the American Dilemma and the real status of minorities was brought to the forefront of American life. From the beginning of the war, patriotic assimilation was in motion. Government agencies and Hollywood encouraged American values and freedoms through propaganda and films and juxtaposed American life to the harsh and cruel agenda of the Nazis and the Axis Powers. Intolerance was still a part of American life as racial prejudices influenced political actions taken abroad and domestically. The Bracero Program is an example of wartime policy that brought the status of nonwhites into question. The program employed millions of Mexican labor workers under labor contracts in order to combat labor shortages and lasted until 1964. Although the working conditions were horrendous and deportation was common, the program introduced new opportunities to second generation migrant workers. This and Mexican-American participation in World War II lead to the passage of the Caucasian-Race–Equal Privileges resolution, which stated, “all persons of the Caucasian race” were entitled to equal treatment in places of

Henry Luce anticipated an era of global American dominance while Charles Wesley waited for the equal treatment of blacks and minorities in the United States. Luce’s bold claims in The American Century were idealistic when compared to Wesley’s views on the black struggle. According to Luce, it was time for America to embrace world leadership and bring forth American liberty and freedom to all. The United States had a duty to usher in a new century free of corruption and tyranny, a century of freedom and democracy. Contrary, the United States didn’t hold itself to its own standard of freedom as Wesley points out. “The Negro wants democracy…”, Wesley says, “The future of our democratic life is insecure so long as the hatred, disdain and disparagement of American of African ancestry exist…” These opposing views would manifest in the postwar era. America was consumed by the Red Scare from 1945–1950 as a series of events involving the Soviet Union triggered widespread paranoia. Later, The US would be involved in two wars combating Communism, the Korean War and Vietnam War. Today, the US is still a dominant world power whose influence is unrivaled. The postwar climate also gave way to the Civil Rights Movement. The NAACP saw a massive increase in membership after the war and, as a result, a massive increase in funds. Civil Rights propaganda