WW I

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African-Americans in World War I

• Darren Miller
• His-240

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World War I draft registration cards
Some six weeks after the United States formally
entered the First World War, the U.S Congress
passed the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917,
giving the U.S. president the power to draft
soldiers. The act provided an opportunity for
young Black men to join the military and to fill
their patriotic duty. Many of these black
Americans saw the war as a chance to show their
loyalty to the United States and her White
people. In 1917, 2.3 million Black men registered
for the draft. Arriving at their local draft
boards, The African-Americans found that they
were composed of entirely white men. (1) When
they did register with ideals of proving their
ability on the battlefields they found that the
majority of blacks were used as laborers. The
General Staff in the army maliciously branded the
Blacks as having lesser ability than the Whites.
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W.E.B Du Bois
W.E.B Du Bois was one of the most respected Black
leaders before and during the Great War. In his
famous editorial, Close Ranks Du Bois asked
should Black Americans enlist in their countrys
service and fight for freedom in Europe when they
themselves denied freedom at home? losing their
lives to preserve freedom, surely they would now
receive it. (2) He promoted racial equality
before, during and after the war effort.

• "Let us, while the war lasts, forget our special
  grievances and close ranks shoulder to shoulder
  with our white fellow citizens ... fighting for
  democracy. We make no ordinary sacrifice, but we
  make it gladly and willingly.

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Why Should we Fight For Freedom when we were not
Free
Freedom isnt a word that
African-Americans have heard since the forbidding
of slavery. Southern Blacks hoped their
willingness to defend their country would end the
Jim Crow law. They fought for equal status and
treatment from their government. By fighting for
an opportunity to validate their loyalty,
patriotism, and sheer determination for equal
status in the United States they had to chose
to support that same nation that was denying them
full citizenship and equal rights. They clung
onto their beliefs that fighting for America
would get them equal status after the war.
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Jim Crow
Jim Crow refers to a system developed in the
late 1800s and early 1900s to support white
supremacy and oppress black citizens. Although
there were many laws that discriminated
throughout the country, the Jim Crow system was
only found in the South. Through racial
segregation, blacks and whites were kept apart as
much as possible. (3)Jim Crow laws continued for
the Black Servicemen in the war. Laws forced
blacks and whites to be separate from each other
in a variety of public accommodations. There
were separate black and white rest rooms,
drinking fountains, and waiting rooms. Blacks
sat in the balcony of movie theaters or in
separate theaters for blacks only. Blacks could
not order food at the front of restaurants. Many
restaurants simply refused to serve blacks at
all. Blacks and whites went to county fairs on
different days. Blacks were not allowed to use
public libraries (4)
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Basic Training Camp
During World War I, African-American soldiers
faced discrimination in training camps. The
government segregated blacks and white training
camps. Some Southern states were so concerned
about Blacks training in their area that they
pressed President Wilson to not allow the Black
soldiers to train in their states. There was an
abundance of Southern White civilians complaining
of having blacks from other states stationed in
their training camps. The War Department
announced that no more than one-fourth of the
Black trainees could live in Army camps in the
U.S. (5) Black soldiers were often treated
horrific and they went for long periods of time
not having the proper clothing. There were also
reports of blacks receiving old Civil War
uniforms and being forced to sleep outside in
pitched tents instead of the warmer, sturdier
barracks that Whites received. Some were forced
to eat outside in the cold winter months, while
numerous others went without a change of clothes
for months at a time. Treatment of black trainees
was deplorable, and after basic training, most
black servicemen were assigned to labor units.(6)
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The Great Migration
One the more powerful effects of World War I on
African-Americans came from the Great Migration.
Southern rural farm laborers moved to the north
and west in search of higher wages in industrial
jobs and better social and political
opportunities. This Great Migration led to the
accelerated growth of black urban communities in
places such as New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and
Los Angeles. The Great Migration reshaped Black
America as never seen before. (7) The war itself
provided Southern Blacks who moved North with
employment at the Norths many factories in
helping build the necessary weapons and other
much needed war supplies. Northern industries
were running 24 hours a day and they needed
strong men to run them. The Norths labor pool
was away fighting the war. Economic and
patriotism helped motivate the Southern Blacks to
go North.
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Life Overseas

• The first black troops who went overseas, they
  went into service labor units. Despite all the
  strong and crucial work they provided, African
  American stevedores received the worst treatment
  of all. The term "stevedores" means placing of
  people who were physically or mentally unfit to
  be fighting men. (8)They were looked upon as
  useless to others soldiers. Because the work that
  these units did was absolutely invaluable to the
  war effort, commanders promised special
  privileges in return for high results. With such
  motivation, the soldiers would often work for
  twenty-four hours straight unloading ships and
  transporting men and materiel to and from various
  bases, ports, and railroad depots. Unfortunately
  the White commanders werent true to their word.
  As the war continued and soldiers went to the
  battlefields, most found their units were
  responsible for digging trenches, removing
  unexploded shells from fields, clearing disabled
  equipment and barbed wire, and burying soldiers
  killed in action. (9)

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The Harlem Hellfighters In France
The Hellfighters were the first all-black
fighting unit to arrive in France. Their motto
was "God damn, let's go." Years later, a soldier,
whose name has been lost to history, recounted
his march to the front, "There were a whole lot
of blind men, and one-legged men, and one-armed
men, and sick men, all coming this way. I asked a
white man where all these wounded men come from?
And he says, 'Nigger, they're coming from right
where you're going the day after tomorrow.'" (10)
Whereas African American heroics usually went
unnoticed, well over one hundred soldiers of the
regiment received French medals, including the
first two Americans, Corporal Henry Johnson and
Private Needham Roberts to be awarded the coveted
French Croix de Guerre, which was one the highest
military medals for bravery in combat.
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Life back Home
When the war ended on November 11, 1918 returning
African-Americans were happy and optimistic that
their patriotic sacrifices would have a positive
impact on race relations and help tear down the
walls of segregation. They returned gallantly
from overseas as they were excited to see the
joyful reactions of their heroism. Sadly the
fight for freedom they gave their country didnt
return to them at home in White America. Nothing
much changed for equality and in some ways even
worse.
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Resources

• 1. Mjagkij, N. (2011). Loyalty in time of Trial
  The African American Experience during World War
  I. United Kingsom Rowan Littlefield.
  African-Americans in World War I. (). Retrieved
  from http//edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/african
  -american-soldiers-world-war-i-92nd-and-93rd-divis
  ions
• 2. Mjagkij, N. (2011). Loyalty in time of Trial
  The African American Experience during World War
  I. United Kingsom Rowan Littlefield.
  African-Americans in World War I. (). Retrieved
  from http//edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/african
  -american-soldiers-world-war-i-92nd-and-93rd-divis
  ions
• 3. Major Hardeman. Special Adjutant to Secretary
  of War, War Department as published in Emmet,
  J.Scott Scotts Official History of the American
  Negro in World War I War Department
• 4. Woodland, Jan. Liverpool University "How did
  Participation in America's Wars affect Black
  Americans? The World War I Document Archive.
• 5. Mjagkij, N. (2011). Raising a Jim Crow Army
  The Mobilization and Turning of African-American
  Troops. In Loyalty in the Tome of Trial (pp.
  75-76). United Kingdom Rowan Littlefield.
• 6. Major Hardeman. Special Adjutant to Secretary
  of War, War Department as published in Emmet,
  J.Scott Scotts Official History of the American
  Negro in World War I War Department
• 7. 13. Black Migration http//www.pbs.org/jazz/pl
  aces/faces_migration.htm
• 8. Belluscio, L. (2011). African-American World
  War I Veterans. Retrieved from http//www.leroypen
  nysavernews.com/LynneBelluscioArticles/WWI_Veteran
  s.htm
• 9. Woodland, Jan. Liverpool University "How did
  Participation in America's Wars affect Black
  Americans? The World War I Document Archive.
• 10. The Harlem Hellfighters and Henry Johnson
  Fighting in WW I. (). Retrieved from
  http//forloveofliberty.org/overview/Harlem_Hellfi
  ghters.html