Dating back to World War II the United States was immensely preoccupied with the war front. Their continuous worry about having enough ammunition put many people to work. Around the 1940s, many individuals were asked to work jobs they usually would not have been offered. There was a simple phase of false hope for the struggling families. Readers have had a chance to see the reality behind the era of World War II through the documents left behind in Chapter 13: Gender, Race, and Sexuality During World War II of Sharon Block’s book Major Problems in American History Volume II: Since 1865 and also Chapter 8: Origins of the Civil Rights Movement of Thomas Holt’s book Major Problems in African American History. With continuous struggles of racism …show more content…
In the document “Hortense Johnson Describes Black Women and the War Effort, 1943” the reader sees what type of work was asked of her and what difficulties she had to go through daily to accomplish it all. Hortense Johnson was a young lady working as an inspector in a war plant amongst five others. She nearly got into every little detail of her job and how she spent her day from the moment she woke up to go to work until she left her work to go home. During this period of time, many women and young ladies were asked to help with the war effort by working jobs that usually men would acquire. But due to the instant and constant need of more soldiers on the battlefield, the labor force was lacking individuals to take place of soldiers. Miss. Johnson proceeds to explain to the readers that even though it is a tough time, “we must prove it to White American as well—that our country can’t get along without the labor and sacrifice of her brown daughters” (Block, 386). Hortense is proud to help her fellow Americans in their time of need through her patriotism to America and in efforts to make herself feel like she is equal to the White Americans. Throughout all the effort at her work place and making sure each of the boxes are thoroughly inspected and ready for departure and her troubling route to work and back home she did it with a smile. She prompts, “Did I say my job isn’t exciting or complicated? …show more content…
In the document “James Farmer Recounts CORE’s Early Direct Action Strategy, 1942, ” readers got to witness what difficulties African Americans had to go through to receive service around town without being belittled. For an example, “The manager, increasingly upset, announced that if the Negros did not want to eat in the basement, she would seat them at the two rear booths where they would be hidden from view” (Holt, 262). It was difficult for them to find locations where Whites would offer them the same respect that they received. This document does the honors to show the world how African Americans in the WWII era were being discriminated. There was a little too no equality present towards Blacks. Yes they were still given service in restaurants but out of sight and in the dark. Though there was much effort put towards the act, James Farmer was more disappointed in America and how people of color were being treated. It did not stop him and his fellow African Americans from standing up for themselves. There was no evidence of biasness in the article due to James expressing his efforts and proud moments that were put towards the civil rights of African Americans. He declared, “No militant Negro today would dream of trying to persuade a manager to serve him on the groups that Negros patronage would not
Stephanie McCurry, in her revolutionary book Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South, claims that her book is about “politics and the power in the Civil War South, about the bloody trial of the Confederacy’s national vision, and about the significance of the disfranchised in it.” Choosing to examine both yeoman/poor white women and enslaved African Americans in the Confederacy, McCurry’s book distances itself from the historiography focused on answering the question of “why the Confederacy lost the Civil War.” Instead, McCurry focuses more exclusively on the effects of the Civil War and how war changed both the United States and the world, most notably in Cuba and Brazil. Conjecturing as her primary thesis, McCurry argues that “the power that counts in politics, is often exercised brutally, and almost always wins, but that once in a long while – as in the Civil War South – history opens up, resistance prevails, and the usually powerless manage against all imaginable odds to change the
The Clansman which was published in 1905 by Thomas Dixon Jr., and is the second book in a trilogy following the post-Civil War era, debuted at a time when the country was still recovering from the Civil War and African Americans were attempting to make their way into politics while continuing to lobby for equality. The book opens in 1865 when the war ends and follows the Reconstruction period showcasing both sides of the conflict and bringing to light the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan throughout the story as well as bringing to light the social stigmas and discrimination of the time. Thomas Frederick Dixon Jr. was born in Shelby, North Carolina on January 11, 1864 to Thomas Jeremiah Frederick Dixon II and Amanda Elvira McAffe. His father
In our society today, it can be difficult to forget the fact that just a century ago, minority groups such as women and African Americans faced adversity as they battle the fight for equality. All across America, people worked diligently to push for a change that would have a lasting effect. The year of 1920 encompassed several major turning points in American history such as the Election of 1920, the Sacco-Vanzetti case, and the impacting roles of minorities. While there were many turning points in the year of 1920, the election of 1920 was one of the most politically critical moments.
“Although African Americans have been the victims of racial oppression throughout the history of the United States, they have always supported the nation, especially during wartime” (“Taylor, Clarence”). December 17 1941 brought new opportunities for African Americans that would help their ongoing move up in society. This date marked the declaration of the war against the Axis powers. “For many African Americans, the war offered an opportunity to get out of the cycle of crushing rural poverty. Blacks joined the military in large numbers, escaping a decade of Depression and tenant farming in the South and Midwest.
Before the global war started in 1939 between the Allies and the Axis, America decided to stay out of the war. It was not that long when Japans attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941 making President Roosevelt declared war on the emperor of Japan. As the war progress, Adolf Hitler’s and his armies conquered many part of Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. But at home, segregation was a problem for many African-Americans who wanted to fly as a pilots. For instance, African-American were not allowed to fight during WWII because of the Jim Crow laws and a report that came out in 1925 that says Black-men was unfit to serve in the military.
The Labor Service was broken up into the women’s and men’s sectors. One of the first things that Stephenson discusses is the idea of “voluntary” work. Much of the work that women did for the Women’s Labor Service (WLS) was voluntary, not necessarily meaning freely undertaking, but rather, unpaid. Stephenson argues that because the Regime failed to conscript women early on, and could not properly motivate women to help through the use of propaganda, that women’s contribution to the war
With the outbreak of the war there was an unprecedented need for workers in the factories of America to make the war stuffs needed to fight and defeat the enemy. Consequently, African Americans heeded this call and began to migrate to urban manufacturing centers like New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The early 1950’s were a time of real optimism in Los Angeles. African Americans were reaching for their piece of the American Dream. Automotive manufacturing jobs were readily available.
Although the contributions of Blacks in World War II were advantageous for the Allies, credit for their donations to warfare was minimally acknowledged. Therefore, in this investigation, Blacks’ role in the
Once more and more people join in on ‘The Negro Movement” as they liked to call it blacks started to get respect. Yet, blacks where still punished even if they did not retaliate, and they were not given justice. In today’s society, African Americans still fight for
African Americans face a struggle with racism which has been present in our country before the Civil War began in 1861. America still faces racism today however, around the 1920’s the daily life of an African American slowly began to improve. Thus, this time period was known by many, as the “Negro Fad” (O’Neill). The quality of life and freedom of African Americans that lived in the United States was constantly evolving and never completely considered ‘equal’. From being enslaved, to fighting for their freedom, African Americans were greatly changing the status quo and beginning to make their mark in the United States.
The Vietnam War The war in Vietnam was an enduring struggle for independence that lasted twenty years. After being colonized and controlled by Japan, France, and China, Vietnam was ready to revolutionize and gain their independence. Once Ho Chi Minh, the new leader of Vietnam, adopted communism the United States became more worried about Soviet aggression. A communist Vietnam meant that neighboring countries could fall to communism through a theory called the domino theory. As the war began the United States soon found themselves in a state of social, economic, and political turmoil.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This quote comes from the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson. America’s founding fathers created the Declaration of Independence so people of the United States could live a long and prosperous life, living in harmony with one another. African-Americans, especially slaves, didn 't have even a chance to pursue happiness, much less a right. The harsh reality is that there were many groups in the 1930s, and today, that are discriminated against in their daily lives.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a large portion of Americans were restricted from civil and political rights. In American government in Black and White (Second ed.), Paula D. McClain and Steven C. Tauber and Vanna Gonzales’s power point slides, the politics of race and ethnicity is described by explaining the history of discrimination and civil rights progress for selective groups. Civil rights were retracted from African Americans and Asian Americans due to group designation, forms of inequality, and segregation. These restrictions were combatted by reforms such as the Thirteenth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fifteenth amendment, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, etc. Although civil and political
The excerpt I chose to reflect on is called “An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman!” by Claudia Jones (1949). Jones express the concerns that women of color in her time suffer from the neglect and degradation they receive throughout their lives. During this time, the reason many African American women go through the struggles in their community originated from the notion that the “bourgeoisie is fearful of the militancy of the Negro woman” (108). In my opinion, they have every right to be afraid of African American women. As Jones stated nicely "once Negro women undertake action, the militancy of the whole Negro people, and thus of the anti-imperialist coalition, is greatly enhanced" (108).
Many of these workers were women with tens of thousands of American men joining the armed forces, women began securing jobs as welders, electricians and riveters in defense plants. Until that time, such positions had been strictly for men only”