Black History in Two Minutes or so, Jan 10, 2020
The Double V Campaign was launched by a prominent black
newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier, in 1942. The campaign came in response to
buzz generated from a letter written by a young black man, James G. Thompson.
His article, entitled, “Should I Sacrifice to Live ‘Half-American”, broke
barriers and started a conversation nationally that many blacks had been having
for generations.
As the nation claimed victory in World War II, many black veterans carried their excitement back home. The charge was clear: victory over fascism abroad and victory over racism at home. This assertion came in response to decades of expecting African-Americans to choose patriotism in times of war, but not experience equal protection of the law at home.
In this episode of 'Black History in Two Minutes or So' hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. — with additional commentary from Farah Griffin of Columbia University and Peniel Joseph from the University of Texas — we explore a campaign that ignited many African-Americans to take down Jim Crow laws and become key players in the civil rights movement...
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This post also presents an article excerpt about African Americans in the United States military during World War II.
The content of this post is presented for historical and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the memories of those African American members of the United States military during World War II and thanks to all those who are associated with this embedded video and this article excerpt.
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ARTICLE EXCERPT - AFRICAN AMERICANS FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM AT HOME AND ABROAD DURING WORLD WAR II
From https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/african-americans-fought-freedom-home-and-abroad-during-world-war-ii "A
In the face of racism and segregation, Black men and women
served in every branch of the armed services during World War II.
"
In spite of these dispiriting obstacles, African Americans
fought with distinction in every theater of the war. Some of the more famous
Black units included the 332nd Fighter Group, which shot down 112 enemy planes
during the course of 179 bomber escort missions over Europe, and the 761st Tank
Battalion, which served in General George S. Patton’s Third Army. …African
Americans also served in equally vital positions throughout the Army as nurses,
engineers, truck drivers, gunners, and paratroopers.
[...]
This willingness on the part of African American soldiers to sacrifice their lives for a country that treated them as second-class citizens is remarkable. Various accounts relate how German prisoners of war could enter facilities reserved for white Americans that black servicemen could not patronize.
When the US Marine Corps began recruiting a contingent of black Marines in June 1942, men from across the country flocked to enlist. These Marines trained at Montford Point, North Carolina. Although the “Montford Point Marines” excelled at gunnery and drill, they too faced the same segregation and hostility as men and women in the other branches. The Marine Corps Commandant, Major General Thomas Holcomb, resented being forced to accept African Americans into the Corps, and unlike the Army, the Marine Corps did not permit any Black men to become officers until November 1945.
In May 1943, Private R. J. Wood was even arrested for impersonating a Marine when he traveled home on leave to Cleveland, Ohio. The police officers did not know African American Marines existed. In North Carolina, a policeman slapped Edgar Cole‘s official orders out of his hand and told Cole that he was not allowed to wait on the street corner for a Marine driver to pick him up and take him to Montford Point. Despite the racism black Marines encountered, they distinguished themselves in the battles of Peleliu, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. By 1944, more than 18,000 Marines had trained at Montford Point and 12,000 were stationed overseas.
Even when African Americans were denied the opportunity to serve in combat roles, they still found ways to distinguish themselves. Doris “Dorie” Miller was a steward aboard the USS West Virginia during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Although he had never been trained on the ship’s weapons, he manned a machine gun during the attack and carried wounded sailors to safety. For his actions, Miller became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross. Following Dorie’s actions and lobbying from civil rights groups, the US Navy increasingly sent Black sailors to sea in combat roles. On March 20, 1944, the Navy commissioned the destroyer escort USS Mason, the first ship to have a predominantly Black crew.
Other African Americans serving in Construction Battalions behind the lines volunteered for extremely hazardous duty as stretcher bearers in several Pacific campaigns. Back in the United States, African American men and women worked in defense plants that built the ships and planes of the most powerful Navy and Air Force in the world.
The achievements of African Americans during the war
provided valuable evidence that civil rights activists used in their demands
for equality. Though President Harry S. Truman ordered the US military to
desegregate entirely in 1948, African Americans’ fight for equal civil rights
was far from over."
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