Author : Sherie Mershon
Publisher :
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 26,46 MB
Release : 1998
Category : History
ISBN :
"Well-written, thoughtful, and incisive... A fresh look at why the armed services took so long to implement a policy imposed upon them by their civilian leaders." -- Journal of Military History
Author : Richard M. Dalfiume
Publisher :
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 26,63 MB
Release : 1969
Category : History
ISBN :
"During the years between 1939 and 1953 the United States armed forces moved from a policy of restricting and segregating the Negro soldier, based largely on racial stereotypes that emerged from World War I, to a policy of equal opportunity and integration. Most writers point to 1954 or later as the origin of the Negro Revolution; however, this history of what was in the past an important issue for black Americans sheds light on the 'forgotten years' of the Negro Revolution, particularly World War II. The war's democratic rhetoric had a great impact on the nation's largest minority, a fact overlooked by most scholars. The hypocritical position of the United States - fighting with a racially segregated armed forces to uphold the four freedoms and to defeat an enemy preaching a master race ideology - provided Negro Americans with a clear illustration of the difference between the American creed and practice, and a powerful argument in their struggle for equality. The postwar era made it impossible for the Federal Government and the American people to ignore the race issue any longer. The Truman Administrations' legislative proposals and actions in the field of Negro rights set the pattern for a continuing federal improvement. No longer was it the Federal Government's policy to condone or extend segregation. Of the Truman Administrations' precedent-breaking actions in this area, desegregation of the armed forces was among the first. The President, as Commander-in-chief, could move in this area without legislation from a reluctant Congress. Truman's Executive Order 9981 of July, 1948, which established the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, was one of the first federal actions against the separate-but-equal doctrine, coming six years before the 1954 school desegregation decision of the Supreme Court. A reluctant Army was finally convinced of the wisdom of desegregation when the new policy proved a success in the Korean War, a success that provided a powerful argument for those who sought an end to segregation in the United States. This was truly a social revolution, and the result is indicated by the fact that to this day the armed forces remain the most integrated institution in American society"--Jacket.
Author : Rawn James, Jr.
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 37,20 MB
Release : 2014-03-25
Category : History
ISBN : 1608196224
The century-long struggle to achieve equality for America's black soldiers and sailors, in a stirring narrative history by the author of Root and Branch
Author : Alan L. Gropman
Publisher : University Press of the Pacific
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 38,6 MB
Release : 2002-02
Category : History
ISBN : 9780898757521
Documenting the racial integration of the Air Force from the end of World War II to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, retired Air Force colonel Alan L. Gropman contends that the service desegregated itself not for moral or political reasons but to improve military effectiveness. First published in 1977, this second edition charts policy changes to date. 31 photos.
Author : Andrew H. Myers
Publisher : University of Virginia Press
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 50,77 MB
Release : 2006
Category : History
ISBN : 9780813925752
One of the first Army bases to implement on a large scale President Truman's call for racial integration of the armed forces, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, quickly took its place in the Defense Department's official history of the process. What reporters, and later on, historians, overlooked was the interaction between the integration of Fort Jackson and developments, in particular, the civil rights movement, in the wider communities in which the base is situated.In Black, White, and Olive Drab, Andrew H. Myers redresses this oversight; taking a case-study approach, Myers meticulously weaves together a wide range of official records, newspaper accounts, and personal interviews, revealing the impact of Fort Jackson's integration on the desegregation of civilian buses, schools, housing, and public facilities in the surrounding area. Examining the ways in which commanders and staff at the installation navigated challenges over racial issues in their dealings with municipal authorities, state politicians, federal legislators, and the upper echelons of the military bureaucracy, Myers also addresses how post leaders dealt with the potential for participation in civil rights demonstrations by soldiers under their command. Original and provocative, Black, White, and Olive Drab will engage historians and sociologists who study military-social relations, the civil rights movement, African American history, and the South, as well as those who are interested in or familiar with basic training or the American armed forces.
Author : Morris J. MacGregor
Publisher : Government Printing Office
Page : 672 pages
File Size : 38,24 MB
Release : 1981
Category : History
ISBN : 9780160019258
CMH Pub 50-1-1. Defense Studies Series. Discusses the evolution of the services' racial policies and practices between World War II and 1965 during the period when black servicemen and women were integrated into the Nation's military units.
Author : Christine Knauer
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
Page : 350 pages
File Size : 25,70 MB
Release : 2014-03-07
Category : History
ISBN : 0812209591
Today, the military is one the most racially diverse institutions in the United States. But for many decades African American soldiers battled racial discrimination and segregation within its ranks. In the years after World War II, the integration of the armed forces was a touchstone in the homefront struggle for equality—though its importance is often overlooked in contemporary histories of the civil rights movement. Drawing on a wide array of sources, from press reports and newspapers to organizational and presidential archives, historian Christine Knauer recounts the conflicts surrounding black military service and the fight for integration. Let Us Fight as Free Men shows that, even after their service to the nation in World War II, it took the persistent efforts of black soldiers, as well as civilian activists and government policy changes, to integrate the military. In response to unjust treatment during and immediately after the war, African Americans pushed for integration on the strength of their service despite the oppressive limitations they faced on the front and at home. Pressured by civil rights activists such as A. Philip Randolph, President Harry S. Truman passed an executive order that called for equal treatment in the military. Even so, integration took place haltingly and was realized only after the political and strategic realities of the Korean War forced the Army to allow black soldiers to fight alongside their white comrades. While the war pushed the civil rights struggle beyond national boundaries, it also revealed the persistence of racial discrimination and exposed the limits of interracial solidarity. Let Us Fight as Free Men reveals the heated debates about the meaning of military service, manhood, and civil rights strategies within the African American community and the United States as a whole.
Author : Christy McGuire
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 47,71 MB
Release : 2014-07-11
Category : History
ISBN : 0813148995
Many black soldiers serving in the U.S. Army during World War II hoped that they might make permanent gains as a result of their military service and their willingness to defend their country. They were soon disabused of such illusions. Taps for a Jim Crow Army is a powerful collection of letters written by black soldiers in the 1940s to various government and nongovernment officials. The soldiers expressed their disillusionment, rage, and anguish over the discrimination and segregation they experienced in the Army. Most black troops were denied entry into army specialist schools; black officers were not allowed to command white officers; black soldiers were served poorer food and were forced to ride Jim Crow military buses into town and to sit in Jim Crow base movie theaters. In the South, German POWs could use the same latrines as white American soldiers, but blacks could not. The original foreword by Benjamin Quarles, professor emeritus of history at Morgan State University, and a new foreword by Bernard C. Nalty, the chief historian in the Office of Air Force History, offer rich insights into the world of these soldiers.
Author : Robert Edgerton
Publisher : Westview Press
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 49,23 MB
Release : 2001-02-08
Category : History
ISBN :
An accessible and well-informed tour through a little-known, important aspect of race in American history.
Author : Douglas Walter Bristol
Publisher : JHU Press
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 12,28 MB
Release : 2017-05
Category : History
ISBN : 1421422476
"Integrating the US Military is an edited collection that examines the US Army's role and place in progressive social change through the lens of the military experience of African Americans, women, and gays since World War II. By making this long overdue comparison, the editors argue this anthology demonstrates how the challenges launched against the racial, gender, and sexual status quo in the years after World War II transformed overarching ideas about power, citizenship, and America's role in the world. This anthology's major contribution is synthesizing recent scholarly work on the history of minorities and women in the US military. It does so by examining connections between GIs and civilian society in the context of ideologies of race, gender, and sexuality. Given the militarization of American society since World War II, revealing the links between these legally marginalized groups within the Armed Services is historically significant in its own right. At the same time, this comparison also sheds new light on a broad range of issues that affected civilian society, such as affirmative action, integration, marriage laws, and sexual harassment. Integrating the US Military is a book designed for college students, military professionals, policy makers, and general readers. Allowing readers to view the history of several civil rights movements within the Armed Forces will prompt them to rethink the way they understand the history of social movements. It will also help them to better understand the relationship between the military and American society. Finally, readers will gain a historical perspective on recent debates about the rights of gays in the military and the implications of deploying women in combat."--Provided by publisher.
