The African American Experience during World War II

by Neil A. Wynn, Jacqueline M. Moore, Nina Mjagkij

Overview

Drawing on more than thirty years of teaching and research, Neil A. Wynn combines narrative history and primary sources as he locates the World War II years within the long-term struggle for African Americans' equal rights. It is now widely accepted that these years were crucial in the development of the emerging Civil Rights movement through the economic and social impact of the war, as well as the military service itself. Wynn examines the period within the broader context of the New Deal era of the 1930s and the Cold War of the 1950s, concluding that the war years were neither simply a continuation of earlier developments nor a prelude to later change. Rather, this period was characterized by an intense transformation of black hopes and expectations, encouraged by real socio-economic shifts and departures in federal policy. Black self consciousness at a national level found powerful expression in new movements, from the demand for equality in the military service to changes in the shop floor to the "Double V" campaign that linked the fight for democracy at home for the fight for democracy abroad. As the nation played a new world role in the developing Cold War, the tensions between America's stated beliefs and actual practices emphasized these issues and brought new forces into play. More than a half century later, this book presents a much-needed up-to-date, short and readable interpretation of existing scholarship. Accessible to general and student readers, it tells the story without jargon or theory while including the historiography and debate on particular issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442200166
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/16/2010
Series:	The African American Experience Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Neil A. Wynn is professor of 20th century American history at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, UK, and author of a number of books, including The Afro-American and the Second World War. He has also edited a number of historical dictionaries for Scarecrow Press.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The African American and War in Historical Context
Chapter 1: African Americans on the Eve of War: From New Negro to New Deal, 1920–1939
Chapter 2: Mobilizing for War: the Arsenal of Democracy and the Struggle for Inclusion
Chapter 3: Fighting for Freedom: Changing Military Policy and Experience, 1940–1945
Chapter 4: Conflict on the Home Front: Resistance, Riot and Social Change
Chapter 5: The Postwar Years and Changing Civil Rights: "An American Dilemma"
Documents
Bibliographic Essay

Editorial Reviews

Wynn (The Afro-American and the Second World War) surveys the experience of African-Americans during WWII in this brief, readable history—the latest entry in the publisher's African-American history series. Drawing on primary sources and recent scholarship, the author explores the “contradictory experience” of African-Americans during the war—“a mixture of progress and resistance”—and concludes that “the war years were crucial in the development of the emerging civil rights movement.” Wynn's evenhanded analysis of the paradoxical nature of African-Americans' wartime experience yields a balance between the hard-won successes—including significant economic progress—and the inevitable setbacks: foremost among them, the heightened racial divisions that led to widespread violence and the lack of any real progress in the struggle for social equality. The author argues that African-Americans' wartime experience prompted postwar advances—e.g., President Harry Truman's 1948 executive order ending racial segregation in the armed forces—but notes that, despite the gains, African-Americans still had a long way to go. A diverse selection of correspondence, editorials, government documents, and memoirs enhance the survey's value for general readers. (July)

Publishers Weekly

[The author's] info-packed narrative of the black experience in WWII would acquaint [readers] with the shape of the subject.. .. Wynn provides essential context for well-known topics such as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Booklist

In addition to a thorough and concise synthetic narrative, this book contains a chronology of significant events in African American history from 1938 until 1948, forty pages of documents, and a seven-page annotated bibliography.

The Kentucky Historical Society

The primary sources are very well chosen and the concise text is very well done!

Theresa M. Davis

Neil Wynn has written an outstanding account of the African American experience during World War II. Building on his own incisive earlier work and drawing on all the scholarship of the past several decades, he has given us a lively overview that is crisp and comprehensive at the same time.

Allan M. Winkler

Neil Wynn has produced marvelous, concise—yet comprehensive—historical synthesis. The book is perceptive, nuanced, highly engaging, and richly detailed. It's a spectacular addition to the series and perfect for college classrooms.

Andrew E. Kersten

[The author's] info-packed narrative of the black experience in WWII would acquaint [readers] with the shape of the subject. . . . Wynn provides essential context for well-known topics such as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Booklist