Black men were allowed to serve in the military after an order from president Franklin D. Roosevelt in September 1940, pressured by civil rights leaders.
Some 1.2 million Black men served in the U.S. military during the war, but they were often treated as second-class citizens.
TITLE HERE
“We do so much in this country to celebrate and honor folks who risk their lives on the battlefield, but we don’t remember that black veterans were more likely to be attacked for their service than honored for it.”
-Bryan Stevenson
“They described being in slave-like conditions and being treated like animals. They were called racial epithets quite regularly and just not afforded respect either as soldiers or human beings.”
-Matthew Delmont
WW2 in the context of racism in the USA
