When WWII began in 1939, many African Americans watched Hitler's actions with mixed views. While everybody knew what Hitler was doing was morally wrong, they didn't seem too different from how African Americans were being treated in the United States. In 1942, a letter was published from an African American soldier named James Thompson. In his letter, Thompson expressed that African Americans should acquire citizenship and equality in the US. His main purpose for writing this letter was the fact that African Americans were fighting for freedom overseas but they didn't have freedom at home. The publisher of the letter, the Pittsburg Courier, described this campaign as, "Victory at Home & Victory Abroad," also called the Double V Campaign. The "victory" mentioned is referring to the attempt at freedom at home and abroad.
African Americans that were helping their nation to win the war made sure to point out the hypocrisy of the US Government. Since African American soldier proved themselves during WWII, they had good reason to push for the end of segregation. The return of African American soldiers from the war sparked the Civil Rights Movement. While African Americans were not immediately given freedom, the public advertising for equality made many Americans change their views on segregation.
In addition to your point at the end of your blog post, Black people and African Americans still didn't really have equality nor rights. Even though it changed the American's perspective on them by a bit, it was soon reverted back to segregating them as if they were meant to be treated that way. This leads into the Civil Rights Movement where Blacks and African Americans fought for their lives in order to get the rights and equality they should've originally deserved from the beginning rather than be treated badly.
ReplyDeletePrimary sources can help us further understand the mentality of African Americans during WWII. The Chicago Defender, a black newspaper wrote,"Why die for democracy for some foreign country when we don't even have it here?" A navy hopeful who was reduced to the job of a "mess man" because of his race wrote "All [black men] would become is seagoing bellhops, chambermaids, and dishwashers" to discourage other black men from joining the navy.
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