The Part Black Americans Played In World War I:

The 9.8 million African Americans in the country had a precarious position in society fifty years after the end of the Civil War. Ninety percent of African Americans lived in the South, where "Jim Crow" restrictions, low pay, and fears of violence dictated their everyday life. Most were confined to low-paying jobs.

 

However, the outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914 created new possibilities and irrevocably altered American life and culture. According to Chad Williams, associate professor of African studies at Brandeis University, "Recognizing the significance of World War I is vital to establishing a thorough grasp of modern African-American history and the battle for black liberation." 

 

Although the United States wouldn't officially enter the war until 1917, the war in Europe boosted the country's economy almost immediately, sparking a 44-month period of expansion, particularly in industry. The pool of white laborers shrank at the same time as immigration from Europe declined precipitously. Thousands of African Americans in the South made the decision to go north due to a boll weevil infestation that in 1915 destroyed cotton harvests worth millions of dollars. Over the next fifty years, the "Great Migration" of more than 7 million African-Americans began with this.

 

An estimated 500,000 African Americans left the South during World War I, with the majority going to urban areas. African Americans made up 66% of the population in New York City between 1910 and 1920, 148% in Chicago, 500% in Philadelphia, and 611% in Detroit.

 

They encountered prejudice and segregation in their new homes and workplaces, just as they had in the South. Particularly women were largely forced to perform the same domestic and childcare duties that they did at home. As in the catastrophic East St. Louis riots of 1917, animosity between whites and the newcomers occasionally descended into violence. 

 

African Americans initially opposed American involvement in the war in Europe, but their views soon changed in late 1916, mirroring those of white Americans.

 

African American communities took President Woodrow Wilson's remark that the world "must be made safe for democracy" as an opportunity to fight for their civil rights within the United States which was part of a larger campaign to secure democracy for Europe when he stood before Congress to request a formal declaration of war on April 2, 1917. An editorial in the Baltimore Afro-American stated, "Let us create a real democracy for the United States, and then we may advise a house-cleaning on the other side of the sea.

 

“Due to the pervasive inequity in America, some African American newspapers thought that Blacks shouldn't contribute to the war effort. On the opposite extreme, W.E.B. DuBois penned a stirring editorial for The Crisis, the NAACP newspaper. "Let us not hesitate’’. While this battle is still going on, let's put aside our unique grievances and stand shoulder to shoulder with our white fellow Americans and the allies who are fighting for democracy.

 

Most of the young African American guys there were eager to demonstrate their patriotism and courage. More than a million people signed up for the draught, 370,000 of them were chosen to serve, and more than 200,000 were sent to Europe. Disparities in how African American personnel were treated existed from the start. They received a bigger percentage of the draught. Local draught boards admitted 52% of Black applicants and 32% of White applicants in 1917.

 

Black troops were separated despite efforts by African American leaders for integrated formations, and the great majority of these new soldiers were employed for support and work rather than combat. Although many young troops were certainly dissatisfied to serve as laborers, stevedores, and truck drivers throughout the war, their job was essential to the American effort.

 

There were 1,350 African American officers commissioned during the War, and the War Department did agree to train 1,200 Black officers at a special camp in Des Moines, Iowa. The 92nd and 93rd Divisions were two all-Black combat units the Army created in response to public pressure.

 

Other white divisions disseminated rumors that hurt the 92nd Division's reputation and constrained its ability to engage in combat as a result of its involvement in racial politics. The 93rd, on the other hand, was placed under French command and spared the same humiliations. The 369th, known as the "Harlem Hellfighters," distinguished themselves on the battlefield for their strong resistance to the enemy. They did well.

 

African American soldiers participated in significant engagements like as Champagne-Marne, Meuse-Argonne, Belleau Woods, Chateau-Thierry, and others. Over 5,000 casualties, including 1,000 combat fatalities, were suffered by the 92nd and 93rd. Two Medal of Honor recipients, 75 Crosses of Distinguished Service, and 527 French "Croix du Guerre" awards were part of the 93rd. 

 

If African American soldiers thought they would get white appreciation for their service, they would swiftly be let down. The worry that Black soldiers had been "radicalized" abroad, along with labor unrest and concern over Russian-style "Bolshevism," contributed to the violent "Red Summer" of 1919. Across the nation, 26 cities experienced deadly racial riots that claimed hundreds of lives. 

 

In 1919, at least 88 Black men were lynched, including 11 recently returned soldiers who were still wearing their uniforms. However, African Americans were also given renewed resolve by World War I to continue fighting for an inclusive America that genuinely lived up to its claim to be the beacon of democracy in the modern world. 

 

The ideas and beliefs of their urban counterparts and exposure to France's more egalitarian view on race gave rise to a new generation of leaders, whose work would later build the foundation for the Civil Rights movement.