Haliyat Oshodi
Mrs. Mohan
IB HOTA Period 2
12/7/18
Unit 4.1 Notes: Minorities
The USA
 Population was under 133 million, 16 million men/women served in the war.
 War was turning point in the USA, women was made the de facto (in fact) head of
households
 need for skilled labor in the factories led to training for minorities
 President Roosevelt appealed to US patriotism
o was a sense that everyone was making one concerted effort to defeat the Axis
powers in a war that was characterized as good versus evil.
o People reused, reduced, and recycled
o They collected scrap iron and created victory gardens, fruits/vegetable so they
grow their own food
 Home Front was fully mobilized and the USA was state of war
 Barely any attack on mainland, war affected lives of nearly all Americans
 Permeated news, entertainment, and the way people live their lives
Minorities
I.
African Americans
 World War 2 was most transformative event for African Americans at home and
at front
 Segregation occurred throughout USA, even though all citizens were equal
 Red Cross separate blood by color of donor and blood type, most establishments
was White or Colored
 African American political leaders saw military service to bring equal rights
o 700000 African Americans in Army and 187000 in navy, marines, coast
guard
o Faced discrimination, African Americans served in segregated units
 Race riots ensued on military bases, even though military advocated segregation
and separate but equal quarters.
o Black and white military personnel was housed in similar conditions;
however, commanders are white
 In the south, White civilians assaulted black soldiers, there were no repercussion
 Booker T Spicely was murdered by a white bus driver in North Caroline because
he did not move to the back of the bus fast enough
o Bus driver claimed it was self-defense
 Law enforcement did little to protect African Americans soldiers and most of the
worst violence offences were against blacks
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Many cases, Italian and German prisoners of were receiving better treatment that
African American soldiers
o 200 racial military confrontations occur
o 68 acts of racial violence in military bases in 1943 alone
 Face of discrimination was Tuskegee airmen.
 1939, the war department started the training of African American pilots, but it
was designed for failure, there was only 124 qualified African Americans in the
whole country
 The creation of the first African-black squadron was formed, the 99th Pursuit
Squadron
 Americans did not think they were capable of being pilots so. Many test were
running, intelligence testing, training facilities, they only accepted those who
proceed successful
 1943 the squadron was considered ready and was deployed to Africa, they
would fly missions to clear the sea lanes. Flew over Italy, Austria, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, France and Germany
 Had a good record, did not lose a single bomber, however they were treated in a
humiliating way
 When relocated to Indiana, they were categorized as trainees instead of officers
so they can treat them differently
 Responded using civil disobedience, 162 officers were arrested
 Attempts of desegregation were not successful, however, actions known as
freedom field mutiny, led to airmen being placed under a Black Commander,
Benjamin O Davis, and the military re-evaluated its racial policies.
 Some African American officers were involved in acts of passive resistance
throughout the military and it later became important to the civil rights struggle.
 Coleman Young was a labor leader who became the first black mayor of
Detroit.
 NAACP saw war as opportunity to persuade, embarrass, compel and shame our
government and our nation into a more enlightened attitude toward a tenth of its
people” (215)
 NAACP saw war as double victory, over foreign enemies and against
inequalities at home
 People were willing to protest, and support grew
 There was a shift in attitude towards black workers, Roosevelt ordered
Executive order 8802 after the great migration
o Stated that employers had to make jobs available without discrimination
o 500000 African Americans became more active in unions, and many
people turned into democrats.
 African Americans voted in northern states, in southern states, the Jim Crow
laws were still in affect
 There was a lot violence in civilian life
o 250 racial conflicts in 47 cities
o most took place in Detroit
 due to living conditions in Detroit
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o factories need to hire more people
o very crowded, there was segregated neighborhoods.
o all workers demanded better conditions and a better wage.
o Weather was hot
Racial tension erupted, riot 36 hours
o 34 killed,
o 433 people were injured
o damage property was at $2 million
o 1000 people were arrested
o 1 million manpower hours lost
federal governments did not do anything to stop racial violence
African Americans were critical to war effort but was little was done to protect
their rights
Civil leaders learned lessons, passive resistance, strength in numbers, and
power of working class
Leaders will harness angry that developed at the time of WW2 to mobilize
African American community.
Native Americans
 In 1940, the US Congress passed the Nationality Act, which gave citizenship to
Native American
 According to the US census, there were 33,969 American Indian, Eskimo and
Aleutian’ people living in the USA
 A number of the reservation had resources that became increasingly important
during the war effort
o This was particularly after the decision was made to construct an atom
bomb
 Native Americans land were deemed ‘essential natural resource’ and the federal
government began to take minerals and land to help build war materials and
military technology
o The resources on Indian lands were asbestos, coal, copper, gypsum,
helium, lead, natural gas, oil, and zinc
 The Unangax people had a worst fate due to the military fearing Japanese
aggression
o The military burned eight villages to the ground to prevent its usage
 At the same time, the Aleutians were recruited by the US military
o They helped patrol the outlying islands after the Japanese took two of
them
o They are also very skilled in kayakers and trackers
o They also participated in the liberation of Attu and Kiska
 Native Americans were seen as necessary for the war effort because of their
proximity to the resources and their ability to work in the local mines
o Another 40,000 men and women left the reservation to work in the
defense industry
 Even the most traditional patrilineal societies saw tremendous change as women
took over traditionally male leadership roles
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o Native American women became firefighters, mechanics, welders, and
farmers
In 1942, 99% of all healthy, qualified Native Americans aged between 21 and 44
were registered for the draft and over 44,000 served
o This was over 10% of the Native American population at the time
o One-third of all men aged between 18 and 50
The Navajo Nation was of particular use to the US army
During the First World War the US army had developed a code using the Native
American Choctaw language that the Germans could not break
o Before the Second World War, a large number of German
anthropologists came to the USA to learn about different languages, and
they had very much an interest in the languages
 The USA suspected that these were agents trying to prevent from
this happening again
There were only 30 non-native speakers worldwide who spoke the Diné – or
Navajo – language
o 29 of them were recruited and charged with coming up with a dictionary
and memorizing the terms they devised
 There were 410 code talkers in the pacific, working as part of the
Marines
- Two were assigned to each battalion (one went to shore
and one stayed on the boat)
 Their code was never broken during the war and was used in the
Korean War as well
It was estimated that nearly half of all Native Americans participated in some
aspect of the war effort
After the war, many Native Americans didn’t return to the reservation and
joined the mainstream society
Those that returned to the reservation wanted to integrate education, business,
and industrial techniques to the traditional society as a way to preserve and
expand the native communities
o Those on the reservation thought that these new ideas threated their
traditional way of life
 This caused tension between who wanted to advance the
communities and the ones who opposed them
In 1940, only 8% of Native Americans lived in Urban areas, compared to the
56% for the USA in general
Even though it took them 25 years to organize themselves, the war helped
Native American become aware of their lack of civil rights
o they took steps towards improving the condition of Native Americans
throughout the USA
Hispanic Americans and Mexicans
 Hispanic Americans participated in all aspects of the war
o 500,000 served in the US military including 53, 000 Puerto Ricans
o Hispanic labor was greatly valued during the labor shortages
 During the Great Depression, a number of Mexicans had been repatriated to
Mexico during a wave of xenophobia
 In August 1924, USA established the Bracero programme
o Allowed for the temporary importations of labor on short-term contracts
 Initially, agricultural workers were hired, but the programme was later
expanded to include all types of unskilled laborers
 TO participate in the programme, businesses had to agree to pay certain wages
and provide decent housing and medical care for the workers so that their
standard of living would be higher than it had been in Mexico
 The tension hit its peak and during 31 May to 8 June 1943 the ‘Zoot Suit Riots’
broke out
o Named after the type of clothing worn by the Mexican American men
called Pachucos
o The Pachucos were underage, and so too young to be drafted, and
fighting broke out between them and the servicemen
o The servicemen beat the youths, stripped them of their flamboyant
clothes, and cut their hair while the local police looked on
o The Navy responded by cancelling shore leave for all sailors in port and
declared downtown Los Angeles off limits to all military personnel
 The US government deployed two units from the New Mexico National Guard
to the Philippines as many of them spoke Spanish
o This group was poorly supplied and outmatched by the Japanese when
they launched their attack on the Philippines in December 1941
o A substantial number of Latinos were present for the Battaan Death
March of US prisoners of war,
 where the Japanese forced Filipino and US soldiers to march in
harsh conditions without food and water, killing those who
could not continue
 Hispanic Americans took advantage of the GI Bill to gain an education and
push for greater civil rights
o Originally named Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944
o This law clearly enumerated the benefits that returning World War 2
veterans would receive
Women
 Not only did they work in industry at home and as nurses for the military but they also
formed their own branches of the military
o Women’s Army Corps (WACs)
o US Naval Women’s Reserve (WAVES)
o Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs)
o Women’s Cost Guard Reserve
 6 million women entered the labor force, an increase of 57%
 Women filled 2 million clerical jobs but more surprising were the 2.5 million women
who went into manufacturing
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As many as 7 million women voluntarily moved to war-production areas and African
American women quit their jobs as domestic helpers and moved into industrial jobs with
the better pay benefits
People frowned upon women working while at the same time expecting them to do so
The Lanham Act provided federal aid to communities that absorbed large war-related
population
o It provided childcare centuries in addition to other infrastructure developments
o In 1943, 60,000 children were in Lanhame care
o Usually grandmothers who took on the role of caregiver as part of their service to
the country
The government launched a back-to-school drive to encourage the youth to return to
school
Conscription
 Registration for the Selective Service began in 1940 and allowed for peacetime
conscription
O All men between 21 and 40 had to register for the draft
O A lottery was held and the selected ones served in the military for one year
O Time service eventually changed to 6 months, as well as age requirement; 1865 were required to register
 1942 - Voluntary enlistment ended and age range for conscription was moved to between
18 and 38
o 36 million men classified, and 10 million inducted
 Pacifists in the US were present, but they were a small group
 Religious groups were historically conscientious objectors
 The militant African American Nation of Islam opposed conscription on political grounds
and received very little support
 Civilian Public Service (CPS)
O Goal: keep conscientious objectors out of the public view, and they were kept
in the camps until final release in 1947