What social gains were made by African Americans during WWII?

Continuity or Change: African Americans in World War II

Author: Karen Hodges, Academy for College & Career Exploration, Baltimore City  

Public School System

Grade Level: 9­11

Duration of Lesson: two 90­minute periods

Overview:

Many historians have posed the question: Was World War II a watershed event in the

African­American Civil Rights Movement? During the war, the “Double V” campaign of

the black press called for victory over fascism abroad and racism at home. In this  

lesson, students will investigate primary­source materials to develop an understanding  

of the experience of African Americans in the war overseas and on the home front. In  

doing so, they will consider whether the contradictory gains made in the areas of civil  

rights, housing, work and military service represented a break with the past or a  

continuation of the status quo.

Related National History Standards:

Content Standard:

Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929­1945)

Standard 3: The causes and course of World War II, the character of the  

war at home and abroad, and its reshaping of the U.S. role  

in world affairs

Historical Thinking Standards:

1.  Standard 3 – Historical Analysis and Interpretation:  

A.  Identify the author or source of the historical document or

narrative.  D. Consider multiple perspectives.  

2.  Standard 4 – Historical Research Capabilities:  

A.  Formulate historical questions.  

B.  Obtain historical data.

C.  Interrogate historical data.  Construct an historical interpretation

Lesson Objectives:

· Students will examine the experience of African Americans during World War II  

by analyzing primary sources and formulating historical questions.

· Students will evaluate if the African American experience during World War II  

represents continuity or change by writing letters to the editor.

Educational materials were developed through the Teaching American History in Baltimore City Program, a partnership between the Baltimore City Public School System and the Center for History Education at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.  

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Topic Background:

Historians studying the experience of African Americans in World War II consistently  

ask one central question: “Was World War II a watershed event for African  

Americans?” In other words, does World War II represent a continuation of policies of

segregation and discrimination both on the home front and in the military, or does it  

represent the beginning of a break with the past that informed the Civil Rights  

Movement of the 1950s and 1960s? Historians of the 1960s focused on the war

experience as a “watershed” leading to the civil rights upheavals of the 1960s.  

Although African Americans had lost much of the wartime years’ social and economic  

progress by the early 1950s, the gains in the military, job training and political  

organization served as a catalyst for the protests of the 1950s that in turn helped fuel  

later civil rights actions. The fact that outstanding contributions to the war effort did not  

result in tangible long­term gains inflamed African Americans and encouraged activism.  More recently, historians have tempered the notion of the 1940s as “watershed” or

“revolution” in the Black experience, but still emphasize its significance in presaging the  

modern Civil Rights Movement.

Hope I Helped

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