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African Americans moved north in
search of higher paying factory work. In
some communities, they were
unwelcome.
Many worked in war industries and
government agencies.
African American soldiers played a
significant role in WWII. 2.5 million
registered for the draft. One million
served
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African American leaders demanded and
finally obtained permission to form all – black
combat unit. The Tuskegee airmen were an
African American fighter group in the Air
Corps. Their main job was to provide escorts
for pilots on bombing missions.
Despite some gains, African Americans still
continued to face prejudice at home. They had
to serve in segregated units and faced prejudice
in the Northern cities where they came to
looking for jobs.
There were race riots in
Detroit (1943). There
were 34 deaths during
the riots. Roosevelt sent
federal troops to stop the
violence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfyJ1A7x
MMc
Japanese-American citizens get notified – report to
relocation centers.
War Relocation Center in Wyoming
Many Japanese – Americans
sold their businesses and
property quickly at tremendous
losses.
President Roosevelt
issued Executive
Order 9066, which
required all people of
Japanese descent
living on the West
Coast to report to
internment camps.
Fred Korematsu
challenged the order.
Fred Korematsu changed his name
and hid out for a while. Eventually
he was caught. He challenged his
internment stating that he was a lawabiding citizen and a loyal
American. The Supreme Court heard
the case and ruled 6 – 3 that the
internment was
justified due to
circumstances of
“emergency and
peril.”
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mc0UW
pRRF4
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For many women in America, WWII brought
not only sacrifices but also new jobs, new skills
and new opportunities.
Women could not enlist in the regular army
but they joined the new Women’s Army Corps,
or WACS in large numbers. After basic
training, most of these women took clerical jobs
in the military.
In civilian life, many women replaced jobs
formerly held by men.
Rosie the Riveter--the
strong, competent
woman dressed in
overalls and
bandanna--was
introduced as a symbol
of patriotic
womanhood. The
implements of war
work--uniforms, tools,
and lunch pails--were
incorporated into the
revised image of the
feminine ideal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9
CQ0M0wx00s
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More than 300,000 Mexican Americans served
in the military and 17 earned the Congressional
Medal of Honor.
Many Mexican Americans moved from the
Southwest to industrial centers in the Midwest
and on the West Coast.
Under the 1942 agreement between the United
States and Mexico, thousands of Mexican farm
and railroad workers known as braceros came
north to work in the Southwest during the
WWII.
The Los Angeles press was
hostile to zoot suiters, many
of them Mexican American
young people. The
newspapers depicted them as
hoodlums. With the nation at
war, headlines about zoot
suiters shared column space
with articles on Allied
advances in Europe, food
shortages at home, and
advertisements urging
American victory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEmLceMg
v7s
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Native Americans enlisted for military service
in higher proportions than any other minority
group. More than 25,000 served in combat
during the war.
Nearly 40,000 Native American men and
women left their reservations for the first time
to work in defense industries.
Navajo Code Talkers were a group of Navajo
Marines who came up with the code the
Japanese could not break.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rSvm3m
8ZUA
Using the information you have just learned,
 1. Using a Venn diagram compare and contrast
two minority groups of your choice.
 2. Read over the notes you took today. Decide
which minority groups benefited and which
ones lost as a result of the war. Cite specific
facts to back up your conclusions.
 3. Explain how either Tuskegee Airmen or the
Navajo Code Talkers distinguished themselves
in combat and contributed to war effort