Black Americans Who Served in WWII Faced Segregation Abroad and at Home

Context and Background

Selective Training and Service Act of 1940: First peacetime draft law in the U.S.
Civil rights leaders pressured President Franklin D. Roosevelt to allow Black men the opportunity to serve in integrated regiments.

Approximately 1.2 million Black men served in the U.S. military during WWII.
Despite participation in every conflict since the Revolutionary War, African Americans served in segregated units.
FDR allowed Black men to register for the draft, but they remained segregated.
Military determined the proportion of Blacks inducted into service.
African Americans faced a paradoxical experience, fighting for democracy while being treated as second-class citizens.

Jim Crow Discrimination: Practiced in all branches of the armed forces.
Segregation in military bases: Separate blood banks, hospitals, barracks, and recreational facilities.
Black soldiers faced racial slurs and harassment from white soldiers and locals.
African Americans were often assigned to labor and service units, with limited roles in combat or leadership.
Officers could only lead other Black men.

African American soldiers reported mistreatment to the Black press and NAACP, advocating to fight alongside white soldiers.
Double V Campaign: Launched by the Pittsburgh Courier, stood for victory overseas and victory against racism in America, highlighting soldiers' contributions and discrimination.

761st Tank Battalion: First Black division to see ground combat in Europe, aiding in liberating 30 towns and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.
Tuskegee Airmen: All-Black pilot group that escorted bombers over Italy and Sicily, completing 1,600 combat missions.
Red Ball Express: Unit of mostly Black drivers delivering essential supplies to General Patton's Third Army in France.

After WWII, Black soldiers returned home facing racial violence and denied benefits under the G.I. Bill.
President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981 to desegregate the U.S. Armed Forces in 1948, but full integration did not occur until the Korean War.

Black Americans in WWII faced segregation abroad and at home, yet their service was vital to the war effort.
Their struggles and contributions laid groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement, highlighting America's racial hypocrisy and pushing towards desegregation in the military.