Social Impact of
World War II
Minorities in the United
States: 1939-1945
Daily Life in the United States
during World War II
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 Pre-World War II
Idealism
 World War II
changed
American
society
dramatically
African-American Experience in
World War II
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Blacks on the Homefront
Patriotic, Supportive of War
Effort
Economic Discrimination
 Last Hired - First Fired
during Depression Years
 FDR signed Executive
Order 8802 - no
discrimination based on
race in hiring (applied to
Defense jobs)
African-Americans in the War
 Black Military
Participation
 Segregated Armed
Forces
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 Separate Units and
limited opportunities
 Most famous AfricanAmerican military group
of WW 11 = The
Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen
 Group of Black Pilots - 99th Pursuit
“Fighter” Squadron
 Trained in Tuskegee, Alabama
 Decorated as an escort squadron fought over Italy.
 Col. Paul Adams from Lincoln served
as a Tuskegee Airman
Segregation in the Military
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Native American Contributions
during World War II
 25,000 Native
American joined armed
forces
 23,000 worked at
Wartime plants and
factories
 Notable were the
Navajo codetalkers
(Communicated in the
Navajo language)
 Japanese military
never broke the code
 Movie recently:
Windtalkers
Mexican-American contributions
during World War II
 Bracero Program Mexican farm
laborers came to
the U.S.
 1942-1947 200,000 braceros
worked
 Most lived in barrios
 Zoot-Suit Riots (Los
Angeles) - Off duty
Gis targeted
Mexican American
youth for styles of
clothing (zoot-suits)
- 1943
Native and Mexican-Americans in
WWII
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Japanese-American Experience
during World War II
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 110,000 Americans of
Japanese descent “interned” at
camps in Western United
States
 Executive Order 9066 by FDR
made it official
 Japanese legal challenges =
Korematsu v. United States
(1944)
 Ruled in favor of US policy
 1988 - Congress awarded
each surviving internee
$20,000
 Official U.S. apology
An Internment Camp - Manzanar
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Japanese 442nd Infantry
Regiment
 Japanese-American
combat unit
 Stationed in Italy
 Most highly decorated
unit in US military history
 21 medal of honor
recipients
 Most of their families
were “interned” in the US
Japanese-Americans
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Women in World War II America
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 At Home…
 Many jobs taken
in absence of men
 “Rosie the
Riveter”
Women in World War II America
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 Women in the Armed
Services
 WACs, WAVEs, SPARs
 Served in different noncombat capacities
 Mostly nurses, or support
staff positions
Women and the War Effort
World War II Culture Shift
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