Term paper on Minorities and World War II

Minorities and World War II

RESOURCE GUIDE

Like women, minorities contributed substantially to wartime efforts. Significant numbers of African Americans, the nation’s largest minority group, served in the armed forces, although in segregated units in the army. One million African Americans, two-thirds of them women, worked in wartime industries. Pressured by A. Philip Randolph and others, President Roosevelt in 1941 issued an executive order that forbade discrimination in defense industries and established the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC). Discrimination still occurred. So did major race riots in 1943 in Harlem and Detroit , and in Los Angeles against Latinos (the Zoot-suit riots).
Suggestions for Term Papers

1. Compare the contributions of African Americans who fought in World War II with those who fought in World War I.

2. Discuss the contributions of various minorities to the war effort.

3. Discuss the wartime race riots in Harlem or Detroit , or both.

4. Discuss the Zoot-suit riots.

5. Analyze the consequences of the war for minorities.

Suggested Sources : See entries 42 and 45 for related items.

REFERENCE SOURCES

Blacks in the American Armed Forces, 1776–1983: A Bibliography . Glenn Anthony May. New Haven , CT : Yale University Press, 1995. Comprehensive listing of writings relevant to blacks in the military.

Let Freedom Ring: Documentary History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement . Peter B. Levy, ed. Westport , CT : Greenwood , 1992. Organizes ninety-five documents on every aspect of the civil rights movement from World War II through the 1980s.

Liberty and Equality, 1920–1994 . Oscar Handlin and Lilian Handlin. New York : HarperCollins, 1994. 4 vols. The final volume examines the freedom to participate in the country’s affairs through the Depression, World War II, the postwar economic boom, and the emergence of the multicultural society. Part of the publisher’s Liberty in America : 1600 to the Present series.

GENERAL SOURCES

Cripps, Thomas. Making Movies Black: The Hollywood Message Movie from World War II to the Civil Rights Era . New York : Oxford University Press, 1994. Description of the role of blacks in film from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Garcia, Richard A. Rise of the Mexican American Middle Class: San Antonio, 1929–1941 . College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1992. Examination of the development of middle-class Mexican Americans prior to World War II.

Lanning, Michael L. The African-American Soldier: From Crispus Attucks to Colin Powell . Secaucus, NJ: Birch Lane, 1997. Traces the progress and setbacks in achieving racial equality in the U.S. armed forces, as well as African American soldiers’ roles in the various wars.

Moskos, Charles, and John Sibley Butler. All That We Can Be: Black Leadership and Racial Integration the Army Way . New York: Basic Books, 1996. Details the racial landscape in the U.S. military, particularly the army, the beacon of opportunity for blacks since the Revolutionary War.

O’Brien, Kenneth Paul, and Lynn H. Parsons, eds. The Home-Front War: World War II and American Society . Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1995. Revealing general social history of the American home front during the war.

SPECIALIZED SOURCES

Bernstein, Alison R. American Indians and World War II: Toward a New Era in Indian Affairs . Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991. Delineates the role of American Indians during the war and the impact on subsequent developments.

Bixler, Margaret T. Winds of Freedom: The Story of Navajo Code Talkers of World War II . Darien, CT: Two Bytes, 1995. The role of Navajo Indians in the Pacific campaign. Their code was the only unbroken one of the war.

Brandt, Nat. Harlem at War: The Black Experience in World War II . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1996. African American experiences that focus on racial discrimination and segregation in labor battalions and defense plants at home.

Converse, Elliott V., et al. The Exclusion of Black Soldiers from the Medal of Honor in World War II: The Study Commissioned by the United States Army to Investigate Racial Bias in the Awarding of the Nation’s Highest Military Honor . Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1997. An examination of the units in which African Americans served and those whose names were submitted, with the goal of documenting any errors in processing and listing all those African Americans who received Distinguished Service Crosses. Seven African Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor based on this study.

Cooper, Charlie, et al. Tuskegee’s Heroes: Featuring the Aviation Art of Roy Lagrone . Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1996. Examines the story of the brave black pilots of the 332d Fighter Group, trained at Tuskegee Air Force Base in Alabama, who never lost a bomber on any mission.

James, Cyril, et al. Fighting Racism in World War II . New York: Pathfinder

Press, 1991. Details the racism African Americans in the military encountered.

Moore, Brenda L. To Serve My Country, to Serve My Race: The Story of the Only African American WACS Stationed Overseas during World War II . New York: New York University Press, 1996. Examines the military service of the only African American women to serve overseas, the 688 Central Postal Directory Battalion. Based on interviews with former members.

Wynn, Neil A. The Afro-American and the Second World War . New York: Holmes&Meier, 1993. Delineates the role of African Americans in the armed forces and race relations in the United States.

AUDIOVISUAL SOURCES

Tuskegee Airmen . New York: HBO Home Video, 1995. Videocassette. Dramatizes the distinguished exploits of the 332d Fighter Group in a 107-minute film made for cable television.

WORLD WIDE WEB

Papers of the NAACP—Part 13 : The NAACP and Labor, 1940–1955. University Publications of America. February 1996. http://www.upapubs.com/guides/naacp13b.htm#scope Fine six-page narrative of NAACP involvement in labor issues regarding fair employment practices and union membership.