Social Impact of World War II Minorities in the United States:

Daily Life in the United States during World War II  Pre-World War II Idealism  World War II changed American society dramatically

African-American Experience in World War II  Blacks on the Homefront  Patriotic, Supportive of War Effort  Economic Discrimination  Last Hired - First Fired during Depression Years  FDR signed Executive Order no discrimination based on race in hiring (applied to Defense jobs)

African-Americans in the War  Black Military Participation  Segregated Armed Forces  Separate Units and limited opportunities  Most famous African- American 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

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.  ,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)

Native and Mexican-Americans in WWII

Japanese-American Experience during World War II  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  Congress awarded each surviving internee $20,000  Official U.S. apology

An Internment Camp - Manzanar

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

Women in World War II America  At Home…  Many jobs taken in absence of men  “Rosie the Riveter”

Women in World War II America  Women in the Armed Services  WACs, WAVEs, SPARs  Served in different non- combat capacities  Mostly nurses, or support staff positions

Women and the War Effort

World War II Culture Shift