WWII+Research+and+Symposium+NJSF

__** Advancements for Minorities During World War II **__ __**10 Facts**__
 * The war helped African Americans get out of poverty. Blacks were able to withdraw from the great depression and escape farming in the South andMidwestby doing things such as joining the military.
 * From the commotion that the war produced, segregation was able to be broken down. It was hard to keep the races apart when both were being attacked.
 * During World War II, the U.S. Army armed forces grew to 8,225,353. There were 7,181,784 white Americans (87%), 901,896 African-Americans (11%), and 141,673 Japanese, Hispanics, and other minority groups (2%)
 * When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1932, he promised a "new deal" for all Americans that would provide them with protection from what he called "the cradle to the grave." Blacks had an alternative to access employment, especially in some areas that were closed to them before. Black writers helped in the New Deal's writing projects, while other black Americans interviewed former slaves for the Works Project Administration (WPA).
 * The war gave minorities such as African, Japanese and Native Americans new opportunities to find employment and be involved in civilian life.
 * Millions without work once again found jobs and relative prosperity, including the minorities. They helped fill in for those going off to war.
 * Since Native Americans were declared U.S.citizens in 1924, they had to participate in the Selective Service Act. More than 25,000 Indians served as armed forces during the war, and many were apart of the action on all the war 's major fronts. One of the most notorious Native American groups was the Navajo Code Talkers. They were a group of 450 specially trained Marines who used a code from their native language to send messages to the Pacific front without Japanese or German soldiers having the ability to decode it.
 * World War II had a deep affect on Native Americans. To make more space for war activities in the capital, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) moved from Washington to Chicago. Around 40,000 Native Americans found work in war industries where the pay was much higher.
 * A bothered black community led by A. Philip Randolph threatened to lead an all-black march onWashington,D.C.if the government didn’t hire blacks in the defense plants. In July 1941, President Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 8802, which forbid defense contractors from practicing racial discrimination and set up the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to monitor everything. Although the FEPC wasn’t the best at enforcing the order, it did open doors to African Americans in the workplace.
 * On June 5th, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802. This order acknowledges the administration's method "of full participation in the defense program by all persons, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin."

__**Primary Sources**__



Charles Alston's political cartoons in 1943 encouraged African Americans to support World War II. He including several biographies, but not only of famous black figures, but also of everyday citizens such as William E. Lew. His cartoons were made to help move African Americans to draft into the war or become involved in it somehow. He tried to implaint in their mind that going to war meant that you were being a man.

The picture above is a picture of the Navajo Code Talkers. The Navajo Code Talkers were one of the most notorious Native American groups during World War II. They were a group of 450 specially trained Marines who used a code from their native language to send messages to the Pacific front without Japanese or German soldiers having the ability to decode it. They were active in every major assault in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. Enemy forces were never able to break the Navajo code.


 * __Executive Order 8802__**
 * "....Whereas it is the policy of the United States to encourage full participation in the national defense program by all citizens of the United States, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin, in the firm belief that the democratic way of life within the Nation can be defended successfully only with the help and support of all groups within its borders; and**
 * Whereas there is evidence that available and needed workers have been barred from employment in industries engaged in defense production solely because of considerations of race, creed, color, or national origin, to the detriment of workers' morale and of national unity:**
 * Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, and as a prerequisite to the successful conduct of our national defense production effort, I do hereby reaffirm the policy of the United States that there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin, and I do hereby declare that it is the duty of employers and of labor organizations, in furtherance of said policy and of this order, to provide for the full and equitable participation of all workers in defense industries, without discrimination because of race, creed, color, or national origin;.."**

Executive Order 8802 was issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1941. This order acknowledges the administration's method "of full participation in the defense program by all persons, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin." However, the armed forces continued to be segregated by race. Out of the million African American who served in World War II, there were only a few black combat units that were created, and they most were directed by white officers. For the first time since the Revolutionary War, t he armed forces finally became integrated on July 26, 1948.