Eastland's Allegations

Despite their great military record, troops of the 369th regiment were still believed to be inferior and insufficiently trained and illiterate. The white army officers were very willing to attribute any unsuccessful missions from Black troops due to racial inferiority. Many blacks due to this racism were against participation in the military and the American war effort. William De Fossett did not think about the racial issues but the bigger war effort and was wiling to sacrifice for his nation. The Army showed good faith to the 369th unit giving them the antiaircraft duty which is a highly trained and respected job in the war effort. The Harlem Hellfighters were sent to Hawaii to protect the island and saw the great racial diversity on the island. There were many instances of discrimination but the military was trying to make all policies uniform so that the war could be won and these racial distractions would not cause internal conflict. Over 1 million men came to Hawaii during the war time to protect the island and build up military forces. In 1944 the 369th regiment was ordered to join forces in Okinawa. The unit did a great job and sacrificed so much for our nation on top of the racial discrimination. The 369th regiment caused many of the military policies to be supportive of Blacks or make rules that were uniform to all units. War Department had set rules and regulations that put military needs and rules ahead of traditional racist policies. Through the 369th

During the period 1865 to 1941, there were as many as 18 presidents in office and in one way or another, they would’ve had to deal with the ongoing issue of black civil rights, whether that be improving them or reversing them. 1865 was the year of the end of the civil war, which has been a war over the question of whether slavery should be allowed. The South was defending the right to keep slavery within their confederate states, and the north was opposed to any extension of slavery. This was a key point in the fight for African American civil rights. 1865 was also known for the introduction of the 13th

For centuries African American have been struggled against racial in America. During World War II the U.S. government asked for volunteers to join the army of defense, over 2.5 million of black men registered for the draft World, around 1 million served as draftees or volunteers in the armed forces within all branches. But didn’t received the same opportunity to serve in the same manner as white soldiers. They were to segregated combat support groups. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt and civil rights organizations pressured U.S Navy to recruited blacks for service.

After the civil war, African Americans were not given full equal rights and continued on with their struggle. Roosevelt was a genteel racist and tried something different to express that. He invited Booker T Washington as the first black man to dine with him in the White House. Immediately after the public discovered this, he received lots of hate and riots. In a letter to Henry Smith Pritchett, Theodore says “It may be that it would have been better for me to not have Booker Washington to dinner…. Personally, I think I was right in both instances” (Document 3). Despite Roosevelt believing he didn’t do anything wrong, he still regretted his decision which reveals he does care what the public thinks about his relationship with African Americans. By the lack of confidence in his own decision, it lowered the hope the African Americans had in their community for change. Wilson was a little bit different from Roosevelt and believed more in the separate but equal concept. Many African American workers were removed from office, without any justification. Wilson allowed the continuation of public segregation and further humiliation. W.E.B DuBois called out Wilson for not showing any concern about the African Americans. In a letter to Wilson, DuBois wrote: “Sir you have now been President of the United States for six months and what is the result?... Not a single act and not a single word of ours since election had given anyone reason to infer that you have the slightest interest in the colored people or desire to alleviate their intolerable position…” (Document 7). When Wilson ran for president, he gave false hope to African Americans, promising to help them. He disregards the issue and doesn’t make an effort to make things right. Similarly, as hard as women tried to advocate for themselves, they were always ignored. Women were showing their capabilities through small jobs, politics, and riots.

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution were historical milestones in which the ever controversial topic of racial equality was first challenged. In theory, these two movements laid the groundwork for a racially equal United States of America. A country in which every member, regardless of skin color, or race were to be treated equally under the eyes of the law and to one day be treated as equals within all realms of society. As historic and powerful as these movements were, they did

No matter how good the Tuskegee Airmen are they always faced hard times. The Tuskegee Airmen were some of the best pilots in the U.S. Air Force due to the combination of pre-war experience and the personal drive of those accepted for training they always continue to have to face racism (Francis and Caso, 1997). The Tuskegee Airmen’s combary recond did much to quiet those directly involved in the group and people normally requested the Tuskegee Airmen because of their great record (Franic and Caso, 1997). Even though the Tuskegee Airmen had an amazing combat record other units still continued to harass them (Francis and Caso, 1997). After the hard times of segregation in the military was ended by President Harry S. Truman with Executive Order

World War II is primarily known to be a war that established peace and equality throughout Nazi Germany and its allies. This war according to many, came to be known as the “good war”, but not to Ronald Takaki. One revisionist argument he makes about the “good war” was that it was not good or equal in any sense. In the first paragraph of Double Victory, Takaki argues that “The ‘Arsenal of Democracy’ was not democratic: defense jobs were not open to all regardless of race. The war against Nazi Germany was fought with a Jim Crow army” (5). Based on previous knowledge of WW2, history does not discuss the side of history where segregation and racism were also a present problem amongst the American people and on their own

The newly passed laws became known as “Black Codes” and socially, they directly impacted the lives of all freedmen and indirectly benefited the white race. These laws restricted the rights of free African-American men and women (Doc A). In Opelousas, Louisiana, some of these restrictions were the denied right to keep or own a house in the town, the denied right to enter the town without special permission, the denied right to hold public meetings, the denied right to carry firearms or any kind of weapon, and a requirement that every negro must be in service of some white person (Doc A). The elite members in the South did everything they could to prevent blacks from gaining civic power, and the reasoning for supporting these codes ranged from fearing black political influence to the comfort of knowing farmers still had a stable and reliable work force. Even in the post civil war North, people believed blacks were unfit to be government officials (Doc E). Pro-freedman presses ran racist letters arguing blacks were not fit for the proper exercise of political duties, and their generation needed a period of probation and instruction in order to learn the ways in which society ran (Doc E). Many northerners felt blacks were incompetent to hold important jobs; therefore, the government was in no way aiding the reconstruction efforts to provide equality to all people in America.

Under President Johnson in 1865-1866, southern legislatures passed strict “black codes” to have supremacy over the labor and behavior of African Americans. This angered the North, who refused to have southern congressmen be elected for seats. Later around early 1866, Congress passed the Freedmen’s Bureau, which “blacks pleaded with the Freedmen's Bureau for help in releasing their own children or those of de­ceased relatives.” (Botkin 29), to assist freed slaves.

Instead, although fleetingly tempted to backpedal, he stuck to his conviction that slavery must vanish before there could be peace” (Beschloss, 86). No matter what the cost, Abraham Lincoln would not back down from his strong moral beliefs. This led to the Emancipation Proclamation which was an executive order issued in 1863. This order, if the North won the civil war, would act to eliminate the enslavement of African-Americans. Ultimately, the North did win and Abraham Lincoln will forever be remembered as the president who ended

When the grey cloud of the War reached American territory, President Woodrow Wil-son changed his original plan of neutrality, after several provocations, finally declaring war on Europe. “The world must be made safe for democracy,” Wilson stated to assure the rights of de-mocracy are kept safe. These specific words sung across the African American’s ears, who ogled this as an opportunity to pledge America with true democracy. African

The United States was a divided nation at the time of World War II. Divided by race and racism. This Division had been much greater in the past with the institution of slavery. As the years went by the those beliefs did deteriorate slowly, but they were still present during the years of World War II. This division was lived out in two forms, legislation and social behavior. The legislation came in the form of the “Jim Crow” laws. The belief that some people were naturally superior and others inferior, scientific racism, was the accepted belief of the time These cultural traits were waning. After World War II ended they would decline even more rapidly.

Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt was chosen for the job of defending and protecting the West Coast. He became one of the biggest supporters of evacuating the Japanese. The FBI began investigating and arresting people along the coast who were suspected of spying for enemy countries. Not only Japanese Americans were suspected. Italians and Germans were also investigated and imprisoned (Alonso). This is one fact that shows that racism was not the reason the Japanese were evacuated. Japan was the country that attacked Pearl Harbor, not Italy or Germany. DeWitt was hearing false reports of acts of disloyalty to the U.S. and sabotage on the part of Japanese Americans including unusual radio activity caused by contacting Japanese vessels, farmers burning their fields in the shapes of markers to aid Japanese pilots, and fisherman monitoring and relaying to Japan the activity of the U.S. navy (Daniels, 29). Executive Order 9066, signed by President Roosevelt, gave the military permission to label areas "military areas"and to keep out people who were seen as threats (Daniels, Appendix). DeWitt named the west coast a military area in Proclamation 1 in March 1942. This gave him the right to remove all those who threatened the safety of the U.S. from the area. Because even 100 Japanese-Americans who were still loyal to Japan could compromise the safety of the U.S., DeWitt decided that all people of Japanese ancestry had to be

Mindful of the hardships during war times for all Americans, the Court implies that it is the responsibility of citizens to bear this burden, “We uphold the exclusion order …Not unmindful of the hardships…But hardships are part of war,…the burden is always heavier.” (Korematsu, 357). The hardship of one race seemed to outweigh that of another, no mention is made about the fact that the only race ordered to evacuate by reporting to Assembly Centers followed by indeterminate confinement to detention camps were Japanese Americans. The Supreme Court outlines that this case is about an exclusion order and not racial prejudice, “Our task is simply, our duty clear…we are specifically dealing with nothing but an exclusion order. To cast this case into the outlines or racial prejudice…merely confuses the issue.” (Korematsu, 358) Korematsu was a loyal citizen of the U.S., his loyalty was never attested; nevertheless, he faced charges against him because he refused to obey an order which singled him out because of his ancestry. “Guilt is personal and not inheritable” (Korematsu, 364). The military acted to protect the nation against espionage and sabotage, they were acting in the interest of the nation and at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack time was limited, the loyal could not be segregated from the disloyal. During wartimes however the US Government needs to be mindful that this is a country made of vast cultures, races, religions and the US Constitution

Visible difference is very important if one is to discriminate against another race or religious group. In the history of the United States of America, a person’s physical features are an important factor in the ways others are treated. For example, in 1942, the United States began taking precautions for purposes of WWII. The enemy consisted of Germans, Italians, and Japanese forces. President Roosevelt signed an executive order 9066 that noted “any designated Commander deems such action necessary or desirable, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded” (E.O. 9066 Roosevelt). The U.S. began arresting those of the opposing forces decent and assigned them to Internment camps. However, only very small numbers of Germans and Italians were interned and the Japanese became the massive target for the internment camps with serval thousands incarcerated. Japanese Americans became sought after victims simply because, they looked different. Germans and Italians were not seen as much of a threat as the Japanese were, because they looked the same as any other European American.