Minorities & Women During the War The Good & the Bad

Blacks in the Military Prior to Pearl Harbor Overview The war served to improve conditions for some minorities and women, yet it also proved to be a time of prejudice and discrimination for others. Blacks & Industry (1941) A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, demanded that gov’t require companies receiving defense contracts to integrate their work forces Randolph’s planned march on Washington was canceled in return for the creation of a Fair Employment Practices Commission (investigated discrimination against blacks in war industries) Blacks in the Military Prior to Pearl Harbor blacks only allowed to serve as kitchen help 1m blacks served in armed forces partly due to the courageous acts of Dorie Miller (mess hall worker, grabbed machine gun & shot down 4 Japanese planes at Pearl Harbor) 17,000 blacks in the marines air force trained black officers & pilots (80 won the distinguished “flying cross”) black engineering battalion built the Ledo Road (U.S. used this route through Burma to supply the Chinese) Charles Drew developed the blood bank (system for collecting & separating blood) blood plasma given to any blood type & stored for long periods life-saving emergency care blood separated into “white” & “black” at Red Cross blood banks

Other Changes for Blacks Black migration increased from the rural South to industrial cities in the North (led to racial conflict) Race riots in 41 cities: Detroit (June 1943) was the worst--had to call troops to restore order; 25 blacks & 9 whites died in this riot Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) established in 1942; implemented sit-ins and demonstrations against segregation Mexican Americans 1942: program for Mexican contract laborers to come to U.S. to work for a limited time labor shortage = opportunity to work in factories instead of only on farms presence of teenagers, some who belonged to street gangs, created conflict in Anglo communities June 1943: riots against Mexican-American “zoot suiters”, in response to their alleged attack on servicemen, resulted in L.A. law prohibiting the wearing of the suits Native Americans During the war, many Native Americans served in military communications left reservations to work in war production wartime atmosphere encouraged conformity & undermined the revitalization of tribal autonomy

Japanese Internment Nisei = American citizens of Japanese ancestry Issei = unnaturalized Japanese-born immigrants living in U.S. Hawaii= large population of Japanese; subject to military rule after Pearl Harbor army officers = police & judges Japanese residents remained loyal, patriotic West coast residents demanded protection against Japanese “spies” FDR approved plan to intern Japanese-Americans in relocation camps until the war’s end families given a few days to dispose of their belongings & prepare to move Sent to one of ten camps in CA, AZ, UT, CO, WY, ID, AR camps had barbed wire perimeters & residents lived communally 1944: Korematsu v. U.S. = Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the relocation later in 1944 after FDR’s reelection, most were released relocation centers for German-Americans & Italian-Americans also existed, but not to the extent of Japanese centers

Women Women’s branches of the armed forces (ex. WAVES, WACS) were created women in workforce increased 60% (took jobs vacated by servicemen) most new workers married, older Most worked in heavy industrial jobs (ex. riveters, welders), giving rise to the name “Rosie the riveter” pay inequalities, scarce child-care facilities after the war, forced to leave work & return to role as wife & mother, so veterans could have their jobs back