Evaluating the Progress

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Under the Selective Service Act of 1940, 3 million Blacks registered for service in the armed forces. However, because of educational de�ciencies, alleged social diseases, and discriminatory attitudes of draft boards, the rejection rate of Blacks was 18.2 percent, compared to 8.5 percent for Whites. In the �rst year of the Act, 2,069 Blacks were drafted, the following year 100,000, followed by 370,000 in 1942. In September 1944, when the Army was at its peak, there were 701,678 Blacks in the Army: 165,000 in the Navy; 5,000 in the Coast Guard; and 17,000 in the Marines. A rough estimate of the total number of Blacks during World War II is about 1 million men and women.

During World War II, in spite of discrimination, Blacks had a greater opportunity to serve their country than in any previous war. Approximately, 600 African-Americans pilots received their wings before the end of the war. In April 1942, the Naval Secretary announced that the Navy would accept the enlistments of Blacks for general service and as non-commissioned of�cers. A separate unit, Camp Robert Smalls, was established at the Great Lake Naval Training Station whose recruits were then sent to Hampton University for further training.

Twenty-two Black combat units were active in Europe. Despite what you see in the many of the movies, the 761st Tank Battalion was one of the units which fought in the Battle of the Bulge con�ict and served in six European countries. It was denied the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation until 1978 when President Jimmy Carter presented it over 30 years later (Franklin & Moss,1994). There was a de�nite problem maintaining morale during the War. While the War and Navy Departments made some concessions, the Black press and African-American leaders demanded more. Black soldiers and sailors still faced discrimination, substandard training, and harsher punishment when the rules were broken.

On the home front, men in uniform faced open harassment and discrimination. In Durham, North Carolina, a white bus driver was found not guilty of murder after he left his bus in July 1944 and killed a Black soldier after an argument. In numerous communities in the South, African-American soldiers were refused service and food, while their German prisoners were fed and permitted to enjoy American hospitality. In a Kentucky railroad station, three Black WAC's (Women's Army Corp) were beaten by policemen, for not moving promptly from the white waiting room.

Military posts fared no better. Black newspapers were forbidden by some commanders and often burned if found. Black soldiers were forbidden to board buses until their White counterparts had loaded. Theaters and other recreation facilities were often segregated and the accommodations for Blacks often below that of Whites. In July 1944, the War Department issued orders that forbade segregation in recreational and transportation facilities. In response, the Advertiser (Montgomery, Alabama) wrote "Army orders, even armies, even bayonets cannot force impossible and unnatural social race relations upon us." The order was viewed by many base commanders a a directive and not strictly enforced (Franklin & Moss, 1994).

A reader of the Pittsburg Courier suggested that the Black community start the Double V Campaign, which was adopted as the slogan for the newspaper and much of the community. When in 1941 A. Philip Randolph, the president of the union Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, called on Black people to unify their protests and suggested they target the federal government, he used this as his banner. Randolph called on 10,000 individuals to converge on Washington proclaiming, "We loyal Negro-American citizens demand the right to work and �ght for our country." In a few months, the March on Washington Movement (MOWM) became a reality and the largest

mass movement of Black Americans since Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association Movement.

The MOWM's demands included the call for a presidential order to forbid the companies with government contract to discriminate. He also called for an order to abolish segregation in the armed forces. Randolph's appeal to the Black community was so well received that his estimate of participants quickly escalated to 100,000. The Movement so concerned the president, Franklin Roosevelt, that he had his aides draft Executive Order 8802. The order declared that "there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in the defense industry or government because of race, creed, color or national origin." To ensure compliance, the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) was established to investigate complaints of discrimination. Though the order said nothing about desegregation of the military, the measure by the President led Randolph to call off the March on Washington.

Executive Order 8802 was the �rst major presidential action concerning discrimination since Reconstruction. However, Black excitement for the Order faded when it became apparent that many industries were simply hiring token Blacks for minimal job to comply with the Order. As it was in the past and would be in the future, simple legislation and commissions to investigate violations were not suf�cient to wipe out discrimination and establish equality. However, the threat of the march, which would be carried out ultimately in 1968, the issuance of the Order, and the establishment of the Commission marked the formal acknowledgment by the federal government that it bore some responsibility in protecting Blacks and minority rights in employment.

Black women contributed to the war effort, as well. The National Association of Colored Women led liberty loan campaigns, held rallies, joined war service organizations such as the YWCCA and the Red Cross, as well as formed their own groups. For example, the Women's Auxiliary of the New York 15th National Guard, was formed to support the speci�c needs of these men.

The War also sparked political activism among Black women. The War created new opportunities for women to work outside the home. Here they organized collectively and advocated for greater pay and better working conditions. Laundry workers throughout the South formed associations and engaged in strikes to protest unfair treatment at the hands of their White employers. In Mobile, Alabama about 250 laundry workers walked off the job insisting "we are protesting against this discourteous treatment and we intend to stay out until our communications are answered and they agree to deal with out committees." Women also took up the banner against lynching and joined the suffrage movement insisting on the right of Black women to vote.