African Americans and World War II Author(s): Andrew E. Kersten Source: OAH Magazine of History, Vol. 16, No. 3, World War II Homefront (Spring, 2002), pp. 13-17 Published by: Organization of American Historians Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25163520 . Accessed: 26/01/2011 11:55

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http://www.jstor.org Andrew E. Kersten

African Americans

and World War II

was to to era Thirty years ago, it commonplace refer the of A central component to the Double V was the quest to World War II as the "forgotten years of the Negro revolu eradicate job discrimination, particularly in the defense indus tion" (1). Beginning in the late 1960s, however, scholars tries. When the Second World War began with the German started to focus attention on the black experience during the early invasion of Poland in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt earnest to on a war 1940s, examining both the battle and homefronts. At first, began in put the country footing. For the a historians concluded that this period constituted watershed in average American, the results of the defense preparedness pro history. They maintained that African American men and women gram were dramatic and beneficial. By the time of the Pearl made major advances as workers and military personnel and that Harbor attack in late 1941, conversion to war production was across communities the occurring nationwide. Gi United States witnessed a gantic factories such as the dramatic rise in black social one at Willow Run near activism and political par Detroit were built, and ticipation. Over time, how American workers as well ever, historians have as businessmen profited tempered their enthusiasm from the increased eco

for this interpretation. So nomic activity. Unemploy cial, economic, and politi ment rapidly decreased cal were often lost in from in gains fsflilHi W- $'- ::^%-^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HHBBRr1 8,120,000 persons some the postwar period, 1940 to 5,560,000 in 1941 thing which contributed to to 2,660,000 in 1942. More

the disillusionment and over, union membership upheaval of the 1960s. Still, rose from roughly 8 million there is no denying the im in 1940 to 10 million in portance of the war years. 1941 (2). Accompanying the global But not all felt the re conflict were transforma turn of prosperity equally. tions in employment, geog Some Americans, blacks in raphy, and social status that particular, were left behind permanently affected not Guy L. Miles, a skilled machine operator, makes parts for medium tanks at the as the economy geared up Pressed Steel Can in 1942. of War only African Americans but Company Chicago, Illinois,September (Office for war. Since the 1920s, Information, LC-USE6-D-005951) all Americans in general. African Americans had suf Thus the Second World fered from high rates of un War may not be a watershed, but itwas an unprecedented era in employment. 1920 was a high water mark for black employment which African Americans sought a "Double V," a victory over inAmerican industry. The Great Depression however, had wiped fascism abroad and apartheid at home. out these advances. Despite the New Deal's assistance, black and other minority workers languished through the lean and stagnant

OAH Magazine of History Spring 2002 13 two terms. years of Roosevelt's first As the United States prepared government. To enforce the policy, FDR set up an executive war at for the end of FDR's second term, they were again left out agency, the Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC), that in the cold (3). accomplished much during the war. With no more than one war As American industry converted to production, African hundred and twenty officials, the FEPC exposed prejudice in the treatment new war some Americans demanded equal in obtaining the industries and broke racial barriers, processing over was not jobs. At first, that forthcoming. Less than six months twelve thousand complaints of discrimination and settling nearly after the bombing of Pearl five thousand to its satis Harbor, a little over faction. The committee half?144,583 out of also vigorously pursued an 282,245?prospective educational campaign in war-related job openings order to create more har were reserved for whites monious industrial rela

only. Moreover, blatant tions between white and was job discrimination minority workers. a not merely southern ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^K\DBiSHBb?*jil^ME^^^V^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^IAbove all, the FEPC in phenomenon. In Texas, fluenced the course of African Americans were civil rights reform as it over barred from 9,000 became a postwar model

out of the 17,435 open for city, state, and fed

ings (52 percent) for de eral efforts against em fense jobs. In Michigan p 1 o y m e n t the figure was 22,042 out discrimination (5).

of 26,904 (82 percent); Despite its successes, in Ohio, 29,242 out of the Fair Employment Prac 34,861 (84 percent); and tice Committee did not rid in Indiana, 9,331 out of American society of job 9,979 (94 percent) (4). bias. At most, it opened Even before the Japanese some new opportunities attack on Hawaii, civil where there previously had rights leaders and orga been none. Nevertheless, nizations sought to end African American work discrimination in em ers rushed to fill these new

ployment and the mili employment openings, of tary. In January 1941, one ten moving from their black leader, A. Philip homes in the South to cit Randolph, president of ies in the Midwest, North, the Brotherhood of and West. During the war, an Sleeping Car Porters, the black population of San over nounced that if the Francisco increased by Roosevelt administration five hundred percent. In did not take action theWillow Run area near

against discrimination in Detroit, the percentage the defense program he growth of African Ameri cans was ten would parade one hun nearly times dred thousand African that of whites (6). These Americans down Penn job seekers were at times sylvania Avenue inWashington, D.C, on 1 July 1941. Through frustrated by discrimination and yet often with the assistance of that winter and spring, Roosevelt and his advisors negotiated the FEPC and civil rights organizations, such as the National with Randolph without result. Finally, on 25 June 1941?six Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) days before the scheduled protest march?FDR issued Executive and the National Urban League, African Americans found war Order 8802 banning employment discrimination because of jobs. In addition to well paying defense jobs, black migrants, race, creed, color, or national origin for employers with defense especially to northern and western cities, found it possible to contracts, labor unions, and civilian agencies of the federal escape the oppressions brought by Jim Crow. Marion Clark,

14 OAH Magazine of History Spring 2002 daughter of John Clark, head of the St. Louis Urban League, man's war." More commonly, cynicism produced scathing edito provides an illustrative example. In 1942, Marion moved to rials and newspaper articles condemning the hypocrisy of Ameri Chicago. Describing the city in a letter home, she wrote, "it is fun, can democracy. Some of President Roosevelt's White House as you agree, to be able to breathe the freeer air of Chicago" (7). advisors pressured him to indict black editors for sedition. FDR Northern and some western cities offered other amenities that refused to sanction such an action. Instead his administration African Americans found welcoming. Housing in cities such as began to collect information on black morale. A 1942 Office of Chicago and New York was much better than that of the rural War Information report detailed the widespread discontent. One South. Blacks also had access to superior health care and to foods Cincinnati housemaid told investigators that to her it did not higher in nutrition. As a result, during the war, the black mortality matter ifHitler won the war. "It couldn't be any worse for colored rose. it not. so rates dropped considerably and the birthrate Generally people?it may and may It ain't good now," she speaking, the four hundred thousand African Americans who commented (10). The Federal Bureau of Investigation also con moved out ofthe South during the war created significantly better ducted its own investigation. In itsRACON (racial conditions in lives for themselves. America) report, the FBI concluded that although most African To improve their new lives, many African Americans joined Americans supported the war, racism undercut the government's civil rights groups such as the N AACP, the Urban League, and the efforts to build a unified nation in wartime. Nevertheless, the newly formed Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). These groups bureau noted that while cynicism was found in nearly every black were dedicated to the Double V. Not only did they attempt to community, so was the strong desire to aid the war effort. In fact, new rac create employment opportunities, but they challenged other federal officials close to the situation had discovered the same ism and segregation in public accommodations, housing, and "positive attitude toward racial aims and aspirations" (11). one education. In many ways, these activists laid the groundwork for While goal of the Double V campaign was to conquer the modern civil rights movement. Although housing in northern employment discrimination another was to eradicate discrimina was an was to meet ghettos often improvement, there not enough tion in the armed services. Like the fight for fair employment, the re the needs of southern black migrants. City governments battle to end racism and prejudice in the military began before sponded to the crisis slowly. Eventually the Roosevelt administra formal American entry into the Second World War. At the start tion sought to alleviate the situation. For instance in 1942, the of the war, there were minimal opportunities for African Ameri federal government in cooperation with Detroit's city govern cans in the military. Although blacks had served valiantly in all ment built the Sojourner Truth Housing Project to relieve over American conflicts from the Revolution to the FirstWorld War, crowding in the black ghettos. Pressure from awhite "improvement theWar Department systematically discriminated against them. a association" caused reversal in policy, resulting in the exclusion In 1939, African American participation in the army was at a of blacks in the project. Vigorous objections from civil rights nadir. There were only 3,640 black soldiers, five of whom were as activists caused another quick about-face. Yet blacks attempted officers (three of them were chaplains). All were segregated into to move into the housing, whites formed a picket line, burned four units under white command. The navy was even worse. African crosses, and used violence to turn the residents away. In the end, Americans could only enlist to work in the galleys. The Coast federal officials held firm, but the Sojourner Truth Housing Guard's racial policies were slightly more enlightened and were far controversy demonstrated not only how desperate the housing more liberal than the marines and the Army Air Corps, which prior situation was but also how tense race relations were in America. to the Second World War did not allow any blacks to serve. During the war, there were dozens of incidents of racial violence. African Americans took great pride in their past service in worst riot in one wars were The war's happened again Detroit, year after the American and angry at their exclusion from the military violence at the Sojourner Truth homes. On 22 June 1943, at Belle preparedness program. Initially, Rayford W. Logan, black histo Isle Park, Detroit's main recreational area, fights broke out be rian, World War I veteran, and leader of the Committee for the tween white and black men. As news of the fights and rumors of Participation of Negroes in National Defense, led the charge to murder and rape spread, so did the conflict, which lasted four days. break the racial barriers in the military. The committee's major By the time federal troops had restored order on 24 June, twenty success was the inclusion of nondiscrimination language in the five African Americans and nine whites were dead, nearly seven 1940 Selective Service Act which required that draftees be taken were hundred injured, and two million dollars worth of property and trained regardless of race. To open more avenues in the had been destroyed (9). military, on 27 September 1940, Walter White, executive secre race as as The wartime riots well employment discrimination tary of the NAACP, T. Arnold Hill of the National Urban and segregation greatly lowered black morale for the war. At no League, and A. Philip Randolph met with President Roosevelt. were as a point African Americans group disloyal. Nevertheless, They brought a list of seven demands: that black officers and men as a federal official wrote in 1942, the lack of racial equality in the be assigned on the basis of merit, not race; that more black officers United States had given rise to "a sickly, negative attitude toward be trained; that African Americans be allowed to serve in the national goals" (8). In its extreme form, disaffection with the war Army Air Corps; that blacks be allowed to participate in the effort resulted in draft resisters who refused to fight "the white selective service process; that black women be permitted to serve

OAH Magazine of History Spring 2002 15 mained. The army never met its promised quota of becoming nine percent African American. At most, only five percent ofthe total number of G.I.s were black. More over over, eighty percent were sta tioned in the United States. This was partly due to requests of Allied governments such asAustralia that theWar Department not send Af rican American troops so as to not upset local whites. Moreover, Af rican Americans were not shipped overseas, because ranking officials . '' jflHHH^j^^^B'/^^^^^^^^^^^Bij;:'. wm^^^^^^^^^^^^^m-i . in the military believed them to be inferior soldiers. African Ameri can soldiers were also largely con fined to the Corps of Engineers and the Quartermaster Corps. Working conditions for black ser vicemen on the homefront were at times horrible. Nothing demon strated this more than what hap pened on 17 July 1944 at Port Andrew D. Turner, who in a few minutes will be bombers en route to Captain escorting heavy enemy targets, Chicago in San Francisco Bay. Two signals to the chief of his ground crew before taking off from a base in Italy inSeptember 1944. (National hundred and black stevedores Archives, Records of the Office of War Information) fifty were killed when two ammuni tion-carrying ships they were load as nurses; and that "existing units of the army and units to be ing exploded. The survivors were sent to Vallejo where they were established should be required to accept and select officers and asked to stow munitions in similar dangerous conditions. Initially enlisted personnel without regard to race" (12). Although almost two hundred and sixty refused to accept this assignment. In Roosevelt seemed receptive to these ideas, he later signed policy the end, all but fifty returned to work. The navy court-martialed statements which reaffirmed segregation in the military and the protestors, handing down sentences of fifteen years hard labor established a racial quota system to limit black participation in and dishonorable discharge (13). The Port Chicago incident, as it the to nine the African American military percent, roughly was case became known, the most extreme of hazardous duty, but proportion in the general population. even basic training was often treacherous. Across the nation, FDR's actions sparked a flurry of protests. To pacify black black soldiers encountered not only segregation and discrimina leaders and to encourage blacks to vote for the Democratic Party tion but also racially motivated violence. Racial tensions on and in the November elections, Roosevelt made some concessions off base were high and clashes between whites and black were such as forming an all-black Army Air Corps unit, promoting altogether too common. In a scathing report to his superiors in the Colonel Benjamin O. Davies to the rank of general (making him War Department, Civilian Aide Hastie summarized these prob the first African American to hold that rank), and appointing lems. His protests fell on largely deaf ears, and he later resigned. Colonel Campbell C. Johnson as Negro Advisor to the Selective Despite the obvious handicaps to military service, African Service Director and William H. Hastie, dean of Howard Law American men and women made considerable contributions to School, as civilian aide to the Secretary of War. Following the victory over the Axis powers. General Dwight D. Eisenhower Roosevelt's appointments came moderate improvement in the publicly praised the 99th Fighter Squadron which had trained at armed services for black Americans. In 1941, an Army Air Force Tuskegee as well as the engineer and antiaircraft ground units training base was established at the Tuskegee Institute. Although stationed in Italy. Perhaps black soldiers' greatest achievement still African Americans were into segregated, accepted regular came in December 1944 when Nazi forces launched a last-ditch service in the navy and the marines. Moreover, the number of offensive at the Ardennes. In the Battle of the Bulge, the Ameri black servicemen in the rose from in army dramatically, 98,000 can was army caught desperately short of infantry replacements. late 1941 to 468,000 in late 1942. Still, serious problems re To fill the voids in the American lines, General Eisenhower sent

16 OAH Magazine of History Spring 2002 in black platoons which were partially integrated into regular Baltimore and Cincinnati, July 21, 1942," appendix D, vi, units. Thus reinforced, the Americans defeated the Germans. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Presidential Of Moreover, after the Battle ofthe Bulge, all branches ofthe military fice Files, OF 4245G, box 7. began instituting integration policies. The navy, including its 11. Golightly, "Negro Higher Education and Democratic Negro Women's Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service Morale," 324. (WAVES), was first and followed shortly thereafter by the air 12. Quoted inWynn, The Afro-American and the Second World force and the army. War, 23. By helping defeat the Axis, black Americans realized one-half 13. After the war, the convictions were set aside. of their Double V. The remaining half?a victory over discrimi nation and segregation inAmerican life?remained elusive. And Suggestions for Further Reading yet, blacks made remarkable strides in four short, war-torn years. Buchanan, A. Russell. Black Americans inWorld War II. Santa With the federal government's assistance, African Americans Barbara: Clio Books, 1977. attacked employment discrimination and achieved some positive Cripps, Thomas. Making Movies Black: The Hollywood Message results. Civil rights organizations such as the NAACP were Movie from World War II to the Civil Rights Era. New York: across reinvigorated. Moreover, African American communities Oxford University Press, 1993. the nation became healthier and more socially and politically Dalfiume, Richard M. "The 'Forgotten Years' ofthe Negro Revo came dynamic. Perhaps the greatest achievements in the military, lution." Journal of American History 55 (1968) 90-106. -. which continued after the war to break down barriers to not only Desegregation ofthe United States Armed Forces: Fighting on African Americans but to women and minorities generally. V-J Two Fronts, 1939-1953. Columbia: University of Missouri Day may have marked the end of the military conflict, but it did Press, 1969. not signal an end to the struggle for civil rights on the homefront. Finkle, Lee. Forum for Protest: The Black Press During World War Indeed, these efforts became the basis for a postwar civil rights II. New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975. movement which has continued for more than fifty years. Hill, Robert A. The FBI's RACON: Racial Conditions in theUnited States During World War II. Boston: Northeastern University Endnotes Press, 1995. 1. Richard Dalfiume, "The 'Forgotten Years' ofthe Negro Revo Jakeman, Robert J. The Divided Skies: Establishing Segregated Flight lution," Journal of American History 55 (1968): 90-106 and TrainingatTuskegee, Alabama, 1934-1942. Birmingham: Uni Neil A. Wynn, "War and Racial Progress: The African versity of Alabama Press, 1992. American Experience During World War II," Peace and Kersten, Andrew E. Race, Jobs, and theWar: The FEPC in the Change 20 (July 1995): 348-63. Midwest, 1941-46. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000. 2. United States Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the Myrdal, Gunnar. An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and United States: Colonial Times to 1957 (Washington, DC: Modern Democracy. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1944. Government Printing Office, 1960), 98, 446, 466. Washburn, Patrick. A Question of Sedition: The Federal Government's 3. "Out in the Cold," Crisis (July 1940): 209. Investigation ofthe Black Press During World War 11.New York: 4. Andrew E. Kersten, Race, Jobs, and dieWar: The FEPC in the Oxford University Press, 1986. Midwest, 1941-46 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000), 37. Weaver, Robert C. Negro Labor: A National Problem. New York: 5. Ibid., 1-3. Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1946. 6. Allan M. Winkler, Home Front U.S.A.: America During World Wynn, Neil A. The Afro-American and the Second World War. New War 112ded. (Wheeling, IL:Harlan Davidson, 2000), 67 and York: Homes and Meier, 1993. Neil A. Wynn, The Afro-American and the Second World War (New York: Holmes and Meier, 1993), 62. Andrew E. Kersten received his B.A. inHistory at theUniversity of 7. Letter, Marion Clark to John Clark, 22 November 1942, St. Wisconsin-Madison and his M.A. and Ph.D at the University of Louis Urban League Papers, series 1, box 9, Washington Cincinnati. Since 1997, he has taught in theHistory Department at the University Archives. University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Kersten has published in the 8. Cornelius L. Golightly, "Negro Higher Education and Demo Queen City Heritage, theMichigan Historical Review, theMis cratic Negro Morale," Journal of Negro Education 11 (July souri Historical Review and several anthologies and encyclopedias. 1942): 324. He is the author of Race, Jobs, and the War: The FEPC in the 9. Thomas J. Sugrue, "Crabgrass-Roots Politics: Race, Rights, and Midwest, 1941-1946 (2000) and the coeditor of Politics and the Reaction against Liberalism in the Urban North, 1940 Progress: The State and American Society since 1865 (2001). 1964,"'Journal ofAmerican History 82 (Sept. 1995): 551-578. Currently, he iswriting a history ofthe American Federation of Labor 10.Office ofWar Information, "Negroes and theWar: A Study in during World War II.

OAH Magazine of History Spring 2002 17