During World War II African Americans were separated from serving in the military with Whites. The African American men in the Armed Forces were placed in segregated units, lived in segregated housing, ate at segregated tables in the mess hall, and received segregated training from the white men. (1) They were “Separate but equal” which was a strong policy at home in the US. The Army founded several African American fighters and bomber groups. One of the more famous groups called the “Tuskegee Airmen”. Although African Americans supported their government during WWII, they did not remain silent about the racial practices in America. A higher percentage of African Americans were killed compared to the percentage of whites. Most African Americans served in Non-Combat positions such as supplies or maintenance of Military equipment.
http://www.nps.gov/tuai/index.htm
A total of 708 African Americans were killed in combat during World War II. Their was 125,000 African Americans who were overseas in World War II. Some African American soldiers who had left farm jobs in the South decided not to return home. Instead they moved to cities looking for work that was similar to what they had learned in the Army. Within two decades after WWII the civil rights movement made progress and the African Americans finally achieved their full rights.
Related articles
The Importance of the African American Servicemen in WWII
Panda__26 • Jun 21, 2016 at 10:53 am
It wasn’t fair that they were separated to other because of their skin color. They should be all helping each other in the war it doesn’t matter what color your skin is.
susieQ • May 22, 2014 at 8:31 am
I think that it wasn’t fair for African Americans that even in the military they were segregated.
oceanmtnsky • May 22, 2014 at 9:00 am
It is interesting that the military and professional sports is where African Americans first were able to be integrated. It took longer for us to integrate schools and the workplace.