Existing comment:
At War with Jim Crow:
During World War II, America's armed forces were stained by the Jim Crow segregation laws that pervaded American society. The world's greatest democracy fought the world's greatest racist with a segregated military. African Americans who entered military service were placed in segregated units. Most served in supply and support jobs, because the military maintained they couldn't perform well in combat. Protests by black newspapers and civil rights groups -- and the demands of war -- led eventually to the use of black troops in combat. African Americans distinguished themselves in battle in Europe and the Pacific. Yet, with few exceptions, segregation remained the rule in America's military. Even the blood in Red Cross blood banks was segregated by race. |