Essay On African Americans In Ww2
African American Rights in World War 2
In World War 2 African American’s were given poor treatment, they didn't have the power to vote and provided unfair employment. This main part of this essay is African American rights during this time period. Despite facing racism, African American’s were offered new career opportunities and further civil rights through legislation.
In 1939 world war 2 started and the Armed forces were in need for soldiers. Each branch of the armed forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) has different policies for enlistment regarding blacks and whites. The Army accepted black enlistees to war which in turn the Army created separate infantries. These soldiers that enlisted in the Army had to serve in segregated units and had no say and were assigned to white infantries at will. But like most black soldiers during this period, they were assigned combat roles such as a cook and or grave digger. The Navy also accepted and enlisted black soldiers but only if they agreed to be steward men. Due to this the African American’s represented nearly a quarter of the Navy strength. Air Force on the other hand would not allow any black soldiers to enlist in their programs. Doing so caused a ripple effect which resulted in a drop of …show more content…
Men 18-36 regardless of their race were allowed to volunteer without discrimination. These changes also banded color discrimination in the selection and training process of military units. Despite these changes made to the Armed Forces policies, segregation was still huge among the branches. Many black soldiers struggled as the war was wrapping up. Fearing what they would do after the war ended, many African American’s believed they had nowhere to go since the changes made to segregation only affected them within the Armed Forces and not in the outside
In World War 2 African American’s were given poor treatment, they didn't have the power to vote and provided unfair employment. This main part of this essay is African American rights during this time period. Despite facing racism, African American’s were offered new career opportunities and further civil rights through legislation.
In 1939 world war 2 started and the Armed forces were in need for soldiers. Each branch of the armed forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) has different policies for enlistment regarding blacks and whites. The Army accepted black enlistees to war which in turn the Army created separate infantries. These soldiers that enlisted in the Army had to serve in segregated units and had no say and were assigned to white infantries at will. But like most black soldiers during this period, they were assigned combat roles such as a cook and or grave digger. The Navy also accepted and enlisted black soldiers but only if they agreed to be steward men. Due to this the African American’s represented nearly a quarter of the Navy strength. Air Force on the other hand would not allow any black soldiers to enlist in their programs. Doing so caused a ripple effect which resulted in a drop of …show more content…
Men 18-36 regardless of their race were allowed to volunteer without discrimination. These changes also banded color discrimination in the selection and training process of military units. Despite these changes made to the Armed Forces policies, segregation was still huge among the branches. Many black soldiers struggled as the war was wrapping up. Fearing what they would do after the war ended, many African American’s believed they had nowhere to go since the changes made to segregation only affected them within the Armed Forces and not in the outside