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Minorities & World War II. New Opportunities and Continuing Hardships. The demand for soldiers and workers created new opportunities for ALL Americans. But ongoing racism and discrimination created ongoing hardships. New Opportunities: Demand for Soldiers.
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Minorities & World War II New Opportunities and Continuing Hardships The demandfor soldiersand workerscreated new opportunities forALLAmericans. But ongoing racismand discriminationcreated ongoing hardships.
New Opportunities: Demand for Soldiers • 5 million volunteers, 10 million drafted • Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) • non-combat duties – nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, pilots • Minorities Served (over 1.3 million) in segregated units • Mexican, African, Chinese, Japanese, and Native Americans • Tuskegee Airmen • all African American squadron that fought against Germans over Italy • won highest awards from military for successes • Navajo Code Talkers • transmitted secret messages in Navajo to U.S. forces in combat in Pacific • Purple Heart Battalion • all Japanese Americans battalion that fought in Africa & Italy • became the most decorated unit in U.S. history
New Opportunities: Jobs on the Homefront • Home Front Employment Expands • due to the high numbers of soldiers, women & minorities are hired to work in factories, and the Depression officially ends • Women - hired to fill “male” jobs • Mexican Americans - thousands were recruited for industrial jobs - Bracero Program – recruited Mexican immigrants to work on farms • African Americans - EO 8802 – outlawed discrimination in defense industries - ½ million African Americans migrated to north to work in factories
Continuing Hardships Racism and Discrimination did not end with World War II • Women: • Paid less then men • Limited opportunities in the military • Expected to return to domestic duties when war ended • Mexican Americans: • Zoot Suit Riots – mobs of white sailors & marines attacked Mexican Americans living in Los Angeles • African Americans: • Faced segregation in the military & at home • Legalized segregation in the south (Black Codes/Jim Crow Laws) • Limitations on voting rights in the South • Race riots in cities across the U.S. • Japanese Americans: • Faced extreme discrimination & violence following Pearl Harbor • Internment – forced to live in concentration camps
African Americans fight back… • during WWII African Americans were asked to actively participatein fighting for democracy in Europe • African Americans served in military & were a source of labor in factories at home • many felt conflictedabout supporting democracy abroadwhen they were denieddemocracy at home • Double V Campaign emergesto encourage supportof war and expanded freedomsat home "Double V Campaign"