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Black Activism Research Paper

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World War II and the Increase of Black Activism

Prior to World War II, black people in the United States (especially in the rural south) lived in poverty and suffered greatly from racial inequality. “Most African Americans lived in the South and worked on farms under a newly developed rule of society known as Jim Crow. Under this system, blacks had their votes restricted by white primaries, literacy tests, and poll taxes; they were segregated from whites” (Johnson). Black people faced major segregation in nearly every venue of life. Under Jim Crow laws, blacks were forced to use separate public facilities such as water fountains and bathrooms as well as hotels and restaurants. In most, if not all cases, the facilities offered to the black …show more content…

World War II was a turning point for the black race. Discussing the changes the war brought, Jeffries explains, “Mobilization opened new opportunities and experiences, and, with them, heightened aspirations and expectations for millions of Americans... As a result, business, encouraged by government, eventually turned to other sources of workers—including young people, the elderly, and especially women and African Americans, who gained access to a greater range and higher level of jobs than before” (Jeffries). Since the supply of white workers greatly decreased during the war, black men took over some of their jobs. When reviewing the increase of black activism after World War II in the book I’ve Got the Light of Freedom, Charles Payne explains, “One strand of those roots was the generation of leadership that came out of World War II hungering for freedom and willing to take enormous risks to see it come about” (Payne). World War II made black people braver and more valiant. One of the risks they took was the Double Victory (Double V) campaign. When reviewing the American home front during World War II, Jeffries states, “African Americans pursued what some black newspapers called the "Double V" campaign—victory at home over Jim Crow as well as abroad over the Axis—and laid crucial groundwork for the postwar Civil Rights movement” (Jeffries). The Double V Campaign was a scheme where the black race would demonstrate their love of country by fighting the Axis Powers (European Union) during the war, but they would also demand equality at home. When explaining significance of the Double Victory, James Thompson proclaims, “The V for victory sign is being displayed prominently in all so-called democratic countries, which are fighting for victory... Let we colored Americans adopt the double V for a double victory. The first V for victory over our

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