WWII and Race in America

Reform Revolt and ReactionLecture Three: Term 1 Week 4

African Americans in the War Industries

• Movement to war industries• Modernisation of the South• 1940-44 pop. Increase 19% in 10 largest areas

of war production (Black pop. Increases 49%)• 1945 peak of black migration

A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

• First black labour union est. 1925

• Fought for end to discrimination in war industries

Executive Order 8802

• Spring 1941 Threat of March on Washington

• June 1941 FDR meets black leaders

• Fair Employment Practices Committee

• Banned discrimination in govt. jobs and war industries

African Americans in the Military

• 1 million African Americans served in the armed forces

• Still discrimination – FEPC doesn’t apply

• Alexandria, LA, Riot (Jan 1942)

• Harlem Riot (Aug 1943)

Detroit Riots June 1943

• 34 dead (25 black) and over 700 injured

• Sojourner Truth Federal Housing Project

“Double V”

• Pittsburgh Courier coins idea of “double victory” over fascism abroad and racism at home

• NAACP membership rises to 500,000 by 1945 (900% increase)

• Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) est. 1942• Smith vs Allwright (Apr 1944)• Some increases in black voter registration

Racism towards Japanese Americans

• Japanese American pop 120,000 (90% on West Coast)

• Nisei (Japanese Americans – born in US to Japanese parents)

• 100,000 moved to ‘War Relocation Camps’ Spring 1942

• 1943 loyalty questionnaire

Zoot Suits

The Zoot Suit Riots

• Sleepy Lagoon Murder August 1942• May-June 1943 white sailors assault Mexican

Americans wearing Zoot Suits in Los Angeles• Oct 1944 verdict overturned

Conclusions?

• USA becomes leader of the free world – but what about racism at home?

• Some gains in Civil Rights?• Increased interracial violence towards

Japanese-, Mexican- and African American communities