African Americans During Ww2 Analysis

Imagine you are flying over America, the only place you're not a second class human, not worrying about discrimination. Helping your country paving the way for civil rights heroes. Then you land and you've faced with it all over again. You're just second class. These men, the Tuskegee airmen, were both American heroes and civil rights heroes.

During the World War II, many ethnic groups such as the Native Americans, Latinas, Japanese Americans and African Americans were struggling and fighting for their freedom and equal rights, many of the ethnic group achieved their goals due to the effort they all had to go through.

African-American soldiers and civilians fought a two-front battle during World War II. There was the enemy overseas, and also

Many people know of the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, they were the first African American Fighting group that flew combat missions for the United States military in World War II. Throughout their time overseas they were breaking down racial barriers by proving that colored men can fly a plane just as well as their white aviation counterparts. In order to get their chance to prove that they were able to serve their country, many things had to go right before they were allowed to take their wheels off the ground. They faced constant discrimination but because of that discrimination they were able to conquer the stereotypes and rise to become some of the most decorated

Approximately 500, 000 men and women of Hispanic descent served in the U.S. armed forces, although some estimates range as high as one million. The War Department did not keep records of the ethnicity of Latino servicemen since they were integrated into white units, unlike African American that had their own regiment (Foley 97). There was not an exact number that could state how many Mexican Americans were involved during World War II; the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in 1936 mark to victory and forced the U.S. Census Bureau to retract the categorization of non-white to all Latin American

American minorities made up a significant amount of America’s population in the 1920s and 1930s, estimated to be around 11.9 million people, according to . However, even with all those people, there still was harsh segregation going on. Caucasians made African-Americans work for them as slaves, farmers, babysitters, and many other things in that line. Then when World War II came, “World War II required the reunification and mobilization of Americans as never before” (Module2). They needed to cooperate on many things, even if they didn’t want to. These minorities mainly refer to African, Asian, and Mexican-Americans. They all suffered much pain as they were treated as if they weren’t even human beings. They were separated, looked down upon,

Prior to WWII, the U.S. Air Force did not employ African Americans in any role. However in 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Air Corps to build an all Negro flying unit. The presidential order caused the Army to create the 99th Pursuit Squadron(Tuskegee Airmen 2). To develop the Negro pilots needed for the new squadron, the Air Corps opened a new training base in central Alabama, at the Tuskegee Institute(Tuskegee Experiment 1).

One of the ways in which blacks were awarded new opportunities was in the military. During the American Revolution, there were two sides of the war; the Loyalists who were loyal to King George III and the British government, and the Patriots who supported Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. During this time, some slaves obtained freedom if they served in the military. Those who were not offered that opportunity were enticed to join the Loyalists in return for their freedom. Although, in the end, both sides helped African Americans find their freedom where they could (Holton, 57). During the war, African Americas were used in various ways, such as guides, spies, and soldiers, but they were only allowed to do the jobs that did not require much skill, as people did not think they were very skillful (Holton, 57). One of the first battles in which many African Americans fought in was the Battle of Bunker Hill. On this same day, Congress appointed a southern slaveholder as commander of the newly formed Continental Army. When George Washington arrived to the battle site, he was baffled at the disorganization of the New England soldiers and called for a total reform of the army. One of the things he did during this reform was the removal of slaves and free blacks from the Continental Army. This reform lasted an insignificant amount of time as Washington feared that the free blacks that were no longer in the Continental Army would enlist

Being the first of anything is never easy, especially when you are representing a whole race. Knowing this, it was difficult for the Tuskegee Airmen, a.k.a. Red Tails for the red mark on the tail of their aircraft, to participate in World War II as the first African-American pilots in history. They served from 1943-1945, collecting marvelous records and earning great respect for their performance. But most importantly, the Red Tails helped attain equal rights for African-Americans. The Tuskegee Airmen showed persistence in the struggle to participate in the war, which set a precedent for colored-people, they showed

African Americans were on the open ground right in the way of deadly artillery fire. Although the attack failed, the black solders proved their capability to withstand the battle.

In the 1930’s the world was entering the heated World War ll. The United States was still in the Great Depression and reluctant to join the war. Japan dropped the bomb on Pearl Harbor which ultimately dragged the United States into the war; this in turn opening up mass opportunities to many demographics. These demographics including African Americans, Women, and Japanese Americans. With the taking of these opportunities, it also offered a chance for more freedoms to be gained by some these citizens. Although many opportunities were presented to a huge extent, obtaining the freedoms that were thought to be promised along with the opportunity would be the ultimate obstacle for these citizens.

The impact of the Tuskegee Airmen include that they bettered education, built confidence, expanded the army forces, and led to a stop of discrimination. The Tuskegee Airmen were powerful, dedicated young men who became America’s first black military. They came from a period where they were thought of as lacking intelligence, skill, courage, and patriotism. Besides this opinion, they worked to prove

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek” Barack Obama. The question is always asked does the media reflect the reality of society, or does society try and imitate the reality shown by the media? There are a number of stereotypes associated with African Americans in our society such as African American men are athletes, rappers, criminals, deviant, streetwise, uneducated, and unemployed just to name a few. African Americans in the media have changed through the years. The history of African Americans on TV or minorities in general is hampered by the racial conflicts and segregation that are embedded in American society. Historically, black actors have been grouped stereotypically and assigned to comedy. This has often been traced to the genre of black minstrelsy that was popular in the early 20th century.

Captain Benjamin O. Davis was in fact the first African American to serve as a general in the United States Army. The Tuskegee Airmen were determined to rise above the racial barriers and break the Jim Crow’s segregation in the military, which enforced separate barracks, dining halls and even opportunities. At one point in time, the airfield was segregated and the Tuskegee airman were treated badly. Their airmanship and piloting skills were extremely impressive, so much that they were respected by the bombers crews since they always felt that sense of security every time the Tuskegee airman would fly on missions alongside them. Even with their skills, The Tuskegee Airmen were given bad or second hand equipment.

World War II was a very influential time for the minorities in America. Army soldiers, industrial workers, rangers, paratroopers, marines, sailors, nurses, pilots, and civilians contributed to the war effort made up not only by white men but included women, Asian-Americans, Hispanics, Native-Americans, and African-Americans. This not only disproved that minorities were inferior; it had a huge impact on racial segregation and stereotypes. World War II was not only waged in the Pacific and European territories, it was also being tackled by the home front where war industry and industrial labor was needed to supply our armed forces. In a time when women were still not equal to men and definitely not accepted into the Army, women could perform delicate jobs and fill in for other industrial jobs while the men were off in other countries.