African Americans and WWII

African Americans on the Home Front

African Americans on the Home Front

• Fighting fascism and discrimination abroad, yet denied rights at home

• Discrimination in employment and society• Growing tensions• Increased activism• Issues once hidden under the surface were

brought to light because of war and wartime impact

Employment

• 1940: 12.9 million African Americans, 5.4 million employed, 3.5 employed were male– Menial, low paying jobs– Less than ½ pay of whites

• War in Europe – war industries hire whites immediately, not blacks

• ~1/2 defense industries didn’t hire blacks – owner discrimination, but also because owners feared white employees would react negatively

• “While we are in complete sympathy with the Negro, it is against company policy to employ them as aircraft workers or mechanics, regardless of their training, but there will be some jobs as janitors for Negroes.”– President of the North American Aviation

Company, 1942

March on Washington Movement

• A. Philip Randolph – African American activist and trade unionist

• Angry with discrimination in war industries and war in general; wanted to shame gov’t into ending inequality

• Wanted direct action, not passive like NAACP• March on Washington DC, and possible strike,

in hopes to end inequality and discrimination

March on Washington Movement

• 100,000 expected demonstrators• If seen in other countries, would hurt US image of

democracy and liberty• FDR concerned; senior gov’t officials and Eleanor meet

with Randolph– Compromise: march called off; – Executive Order 8802 issued and Fair Employment Practices

Commission (FEPC) established to prevent job discrimination• Randolph continued to encourage protests and civil

disobedience to oppose laws permitting unequal treatment

FEPC and Progress

• Blacks from south migrate looking for jobs, competing with those already seeking jobs

• Still given menial jobs• Industries: can’t hire blacks in non-menial

positions b/c would then have to integrate, which is expensive and opposed by whites

• 1943: FEPC aware of widespread discrimination; Executive Order 9346 gives commission more money and power

FEPC and Progress• Investigated 8000 instances of discrimination; 66%

success rate in NE, 62% in midwest, 55% in west, failure/lack of cooperation in south

• At end of war, African Americans with jobs at an all time high

• BUT most still had menial jobs, and pay just above half of whites’ pay

• Gains made, but were small: – better opportunities and wages, but even better and

more improvements for whites– Segregation and discrimination still present

African American Activism

• Increased activism; slow and gradual change• More African American voters, more political

awareness• Didn’t challenge status quo too much– Fear of white response; didn’t want to seem

unpatriotic• Work by people like A. Philip Randolph, and

groups like NAACP and CORE

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

• Founded 1909• Goal: ensure political, educational, social, and

economic equality of rights• Used legal means to do so• Growth in membership due to increased

awareness during war: 1940 – 50k members, 1945 – 450k members

• Professionals and urban workers• Key role in Civil Rights Movement following war

Congress Of Racial Equality

• Founded 1942• Non violent acts of Gandhi as inspiration – non

violent protests like sit ins• 1943-1945: desegregation in some northern

cities, partly due to non violent protests• Key role in Civil Rights Movement

Double V Campaign

• Victory abroad against fascism and dictatorship; Victory at home against racism and discrimination

• Created by African American paper, Pittsburg Courier; result of readers commenting on inequality during wartime

• More and more African American papers supported campaign – printed articles, letters, pics, etc. to raise awareness

Increased Racial Tension

• Result of war, employment, migration• Thousands of African Americans migrate north• Housing and job shortage, insufficient schools• Competition for jobs/housing among blacks,

and with whites; whites thought jobs and housing being taken from them

• ~9 million migrants had to be housed• Tensions increased, often resulting in riots

Riots• Harlem: August 1943; 6 African Americans killed,

300 people injured, 500 arrested• Philly: 1944; thousands of troops sent to restore

order• Detroit: June 1943; army called in to restore order

(stayed until Jan 1944); 34 people killed, 600+ injured, 1800+ arrested; $2 million in damage– German and Japanese propaganda used riot to portray

US hypocrisy and encourage African Americans not to fight

End of War

• 1945: some progress made in jobs and armed forces; more African Americans active in civil rights campaigning (first steps of modern Civil Rights Movement)

• Discrimination and segregation still major part of southern life

• Migration north causing increased tension• African Americans and their continuing efforts

for change under view of more and more people