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African Americans During WW2 The significant contributions of African Americans throughout WWII launched the 20th century Civil Rights movement. Over 2.5 African-American men went in for the draft, and some were women who volunteered. They got much discrimination when serving in the Army Air forces, Navy, Army, Marine Corps, and Coast guard. There were over 167,000 men and women who who served in the navy, 909,000 served in the Army, 17,000 served in the Marine Corps, and 5000 in the coast guard. Some of the woman who did volunteer were nurses or cooks, but there was some who actually served in the war with the men. George Watson, served in the U.S. Army, he was the only African-American man to be handed a Medal of Honor. Then the Executive order 9981 was a part of the discrimination. It …show more content…
Even though the blacks were working just as hard and risking their lives just like everyone else. They also got put in different jobs than the whites. They were mainly placed in jobs that didn't put them out in the field with the other men. They were assigned mostly to labor intensive service positions with little responsibility, because people didn't think they were capable enough to do the harder work, they also weren't equipped enough and had fewer supplies than the whites. Although, most men did not get to go into the field some did and made a big impact like the Tuskegee Airmen. They made a big difference because they were they got a lot of rewards and even though they got so much discrimination for their color they still served the best they could to protect their country. After awhile of all the discrimination and hate against African Americans going into the military President Harry Truman started the Executive Order of 8802. It is where the african americans are now able to get into job training and start getting a fair employment. This concept was then shut down not soon after it started, then they started it up again and the new one was
Black soldiers were among the bravest of those fighting in the Civil War. Both free Blacks in the Union army and escaped slaves from the South rushed to fight for their freedom and they fought with distinction in many major Civil War battles. Many whites thought Blacks could not be soldiers. They were slaves. They were inferior. Many thought that if Blacks could fight in the war it would make them equal to whites and prove the theory of slavery was wrong. Even though Black soldiers had to face much discrimination during the Civil War, they were willing to fight to the death for their freedom. In the movie “Glory“ the director focused on the African Americans in the north that fought in the 54th regiment led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. During the time of the Civil War, the African Americans that fought in the 54th regiment were often treated unfairly but there were always nice people that backed them up.
For the beginning, in the middle and in the ending of the Civil War in the United States, the Black Americans were central as soldier and civilian. At first, people tried hard to get around this fact. Even President Abraham Lincoln administration sent Black volunteers home with an understanding that the war was a ''White man's war". The policy was eventually changed not because of humanitarianism but because of the Confederation's battlefield brilliance. The South brought the North to a realization that it was in a real brawl that it needed all the weapons it could lay hands on.
African Americans that joined the Army Air Corps’ were also segregated (Reinhardt and Ganzel 1). The Army Air Corps’ African American, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, were sent to the black university in Tuskegee for their training (Reinhardt and Ganzel 1). They became one of the most well known groups of flyers during World War II that were able to fly 200 bomber escort missions over enemy territory, and were able to prevent all of the bombers from being shot down by the enemies (Reinhardt and Ganzel 1).... ... middle of paper ... ...
American minorities made up a significant amount of America’s population in the 1920s and 1930s, estimated to be around 11.9 million people, according to . However, even with all those people, there still was harsh segregation going on. Caucasians made African-Americans work for them as slaves, farmers, babysitters, and many other things in that line. Then when World War II came, “World War II required the reunification and mobilization of Americans as never before” (Module2). They needed to cooperate on many things, even if they didn’t want to. These minorities mainly refer to African, Asian, and Mexican-Americans. They all suffered much pain as they were treated as if they weren’t even human beings. They were separated, looked down upon, and wasn’t given much respect because they had a different culture or their skin color was different. However, the lives of American minorities changed forever as World War 2 impacted them significantly with segregation problems, socially, and in their working lives, both at that time and for generations after.
Those studying the experience of African Americans in World War II consistently ask one central question: “Was World War II a turning point for African Americans?” In elaboration, does World War II symbolize a prolongation of policies of segregation and discrimination both on the home front and the war front, or does it represent the start of the Civil Rights Movement that brought racial equality? The data points to the war experience being a transition leading to the civil rights upheavals of the 1960s.
During the years leading up to World War I, no black man had ever served as a pilot for the United States Army, ever since the beginning of the United States Army Air Service in 1907. The Tuskegee Airmen changed this and played a huge part in the fight for African-American rights for years to come.
The Reconstruction-era was an extremely rough period for the African-Americans as well as many white settlers. The African-Americans endured numerous hardships and losses as a result of the white settlers' frustrations. Although the African-Americans' losses were great during this time, the progress made throughout that period is amazing. Many of them were sent off with nothing, to live on their own and a number of them managed to meet success. Their largest success came when the Reconstruction-era ended. African-Americans fought and struggled for their freedom, rights, and equality, for years, and although it took them a long time, they accomplished what they set out to do.
Over 260,000 blacks were volunteered or drafted in the war. While the navy assigned blacks only to low-rank positions, the marines excluded them altogether. Blacks were sent to training camps, and to say they were treated horrible is a high understatement. They experienced distasteful racial abuse, which eventually led to the killing of seventeen whites. These blacks were sought out as wrong to many whites, and as shown, were subjected to brisk trials where some were killed, and some imprisoned for life.
African Americans were very questionable at first in the Civil War. The Union Navy had been already been accepting African American volunteers. Frederick Douglass thought that the military would help the African Americans have equal rights if they fought with them. Many children helped in the Civil War also, no matter how old they were. Because the African Americans were unfavorable, black units were not used in combat as they might have been. Nevertheless, the African Americans fought in numerous battles. African Americans fought gallantly. Northern leaders also saw another reason to have African Americans in the Civil War is that the Union needed soldiers. Congress aloud them to enlist them because they thought they might as well have more soldiers.
Although there were a lot of good outcomes that made the nation what we are, there were also bad ones. Following the Civil War and the slaves being freed, African Americans struggled immensely in order to get rights and not to get discriminated.
World War I marked a drastic change in African American history. The war began as a conflict between the Europeans and soon became an event with revolutionary consequences, which would have a big affect on the social, economic, and political future for the black community. The war impacted the black community of Cleveland greatly whether you were male or female, soldier or civilian. The war began in 1914 and ended in 1918, which marked one of the most dynamic periods for the African American community because of migration, racial violence, and political protest. African Americans challenged the American Government, demanded their rights as American citizens, and demanded equality both in subtle and dramatic ways. We should further our knowledge on World War I because it is important to develop a better understanding of how the war affected African Americans and the struggles they faced because of it.
Go back in time exactly 56 years, it is now 1960. Now, picture yourself in the 60’s and picture yourself hanging out with friends. It is a typical sunny day, school is out and you are hungry; so your first instinct is to get food. You arrive at the restaurant and the front is empty. You sit down, look through the menu and decide what to order. The server comes out and refuses to wait on you. Why would the server refuse to get the order? You have money. You are willing to pay for food. You are not causing trouble. You are hungry and want to eat. Have you realized you are African-American? What are you going to do about this? Are you just going to leave or are you going to take a stand? In 1960 four college students thought that this was unfair therefore, they took a stand. They would not leave as a matter of
After the war, issues of race weren't ignored. Black men had come back from a war were they were treated like men. They still weren't treated as equally as whites, but they were treated better during the war than they were back home where they were treated like objects. This gave them more motivation to demand equality when they returned. But after the war, white hostility towards blacks increased. This became a dichotomy when there was competition for low wage jobs between the blacks and whites. There was also black encroachment into white neighborhoods. The whites d...
In From Slavery to Freedom (2007), it was said that “the transition from slavery to freedom represents one of the major themes in the history of African Diaspora in the Americas” (para. 1). African American history plays an important role in American history not only because the Civil Rights Movement, but because of the strength and courage of Afro-Americans struggling to live a good life in America. Afro-Americans have been present in this country since the early 1600’s, and have been making history since. We as Americans have studied American history all throughout school, and took one Month out of the year to studied African American history. Of course we learn some things about the important people and events in African American history, but some of the most important things remain untold which will take more than a month to learn about.
African Americans fought until the Jim Crow laws were taken out of effect, and they received equality of all people regardless of race. Along the way there were many controversial court cases and important leaders who helped to take a stand against racial segregation.