African Americans in African Americans in World War II:World War II:
Origins of the Civil Origins of the Civil Rights MovementRights Movement
HIS 265
Preparing for War Only 5,000 blacks in army in 1940 Selective Service Act (Sept. 1940) forbade
discrimination– Many draft boards only accepted whites on
grounds there were no separate facilities for blacks– A. Philip Randolph, Walter White & T. Arnold
Hill submitted plan to FDR to desegregate armed forces & institute equal training & merit-based promotion
Token steps in Fall 1940: – Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. promoted to Brig. Gen.– William Hastie appointed civilian aide to Secretary
of War– ROTC units added at W. Virginia State, Hampton,
Tuskegee & Prairie View
The March on Washington Movement
Industrial plants hired white unemployed first, so blacks took jobs vacated by whites
A. Philip Randolph proposed 100,000-man march for July 1, 1945
FDR issued Executive Order 8802 June 25, 1941
Fair Employment Practices Committee received & investigated complaints, but had no authority to punish
Welders
African Americans in World War II
Over 3 million black men registered for draft, but 18.2% rejected on educational or medical grounds (compared to 8.5% of whites)
Approx. 1 million African Americans served in armed forces
African Americans in armed forces, Sept. 1944:– 701,678 in Army (86,000 in combat units)– 165,000 in Navy– 17,000 in Marine Corps– 5,000 in Coast Guard– 24,000 in Merchant Marine– 4,000 in Women’s Auxiliary Corps
497,566 serving overseas by Feb. 1945
A Segregated Army
War Dept. issued order in Oct. 1940 that whites & blacks would attend same officer training schools & held to same standard– some camp commanders reluctant to recommend
blacks at first– Only Air Corps had segregated training
Mostly served in segregated units under white officers, as in previous wars
Too often placed in support roles– Blacks made up 20% of engineering corps, 33% of
transportation corps & 44% of quartermaster corps– Only 12% of soldiers served in combat units
The European Theater
22 black combat units in Europe: – 9 field artillery, 1 anti-aircraft, 2 tank, 2
tank destroyer, & 8 engineer combat battalions
– 1st Army integrated some units at platoon level in 1945 due to manpower shortages
– 761st Tank Battalion fought in Battle of Bulge
– 92nd Division earned over 12,000 decorations & citations fighting in Italy
– Capt. Charles L. Thomas of 614th Tank Destroyer battalion & 1st Lt. John L. Fox of 92nd Division among 7 recipients of Medal of Honor in Jan. 1997
Logo of the 92nd Division
92nd Division in Action, Italy
Machine Gun Crew near Massa Entering Genoa
The Tuskegee Airmen Served overseas in
Mediterranean theater Escorted bombers & flew
strafing runs 94th Pursuit Squadron initially
part of 79th Pursuit Group with 3 white units
Moved to all-black 332nd Fighter Group in 1944
Commanded by Col. Benjamin Davis, Jr.
Over 80 pilots won Distinguished Flying Cross
Lena Horne and some ofthe Tuskegee Airmen
The Pacific Theater Blacks allowed to enlist in Navy & Marine Corps for
the first time in spring 1942– Dorie Miller became hero for shooting down 4 Japanese
planes during Pearl Harbor attack– Howard Perry was 1st black Marine– 51st Defense Battalion assigned to guard duty in Marshall
Islands in 1944– By fall 1944, 500 black seamen serving on 25 large auxiliary
vessels, mostly in Pacific– 12,500 served in Seabees– 24,500 served in merchant marine - 18 ships named after
African Americans 24th Infantry helped take New Georgia Islands in May
1942 93rd Division saw action at Bougainville, Treasury
Islands, Morotai & Philippines
Howard Perry & Dorie Miller
Trouble on the Home Front Most camps located in South, so racial incidents
occurred inevitably– Some camp commanders banned black newspapers &
segregated transportation and entertainment– War Dept. issued order in July 1944 forbidding
segregation, but met with hostility– Serious riots at Ft. Bragg, Camp Robinson, Camp Davis,
Camp Lee & Ft. Dix Renewed Great Migration led to renewed racial
tension in northern cities– 65 black colleges participated in Engineering, Science &
management War Training Program - represented triumph of Booker T. Washington’s model
– June 1943 riot in Detroit left 25 blacks and 9 whites dead
Detroit Riot, 1943
The “Double V” Campaign
Pittsburg Courier launched “Double V” campaign to fight racism at home as well as abroad
NAACP membership increased from 50,000 to 400,000
James Farmer founded CORE (Congress Of Racial Equality) to fight segregation in Chicago
Wartime Propaganda
Office of War Information hired Ted Poston as advisor– Used black journalists, artists &
photographers Propaganda emphasized U.S.
as egalitarian melting pot in contrast to Nazi racism– Films featured multiethnic
platoons, but rarely included African Americans
– Frank Capra produced The Negro Soldier in 1944 – became mandatory viewing for all soldiers
Liberals Rethink Race
Blatant racism of Nazis caused white liberals to reassess importance of racial discrimination
Ashley Montagu’s Man’s Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race & Ruth Benedict’s The Races of Mankind were best-sellers in 1942-43
Gunnar Myrdal’s An American Dilemma (1944) was exhaustive study– Saw discrimination as glaring exception to the
“American Creed” – Called on Americans to live up to their ideals and
eliminate prejudice and segregation
Truman and Desegregation Freedom to Serve (1948)
outlined steps Executive Order 9981
began process All jobs opened to
qualified personnel regardless of race in 1949
Gen. Matthew Ridgeway integrated army in Korea, 1950-51