Contemporary America Essay

Joven I liker Bilog 12 Apr 2011 story 162 Section 8 the Statess role in universe contend II was fueled by the desire to adjure oppression foreign. However, Americas own oppressive behavior contradicts this desire. Segregation and discrimination were still prominent in WWII. honorable citizenship rights were denied to balefuls. The Jim wallow laws kept the separation of pitch-dark and livid soldiers. Black and white soldiers sh ared contrasting bathrooms and were trained in different army units. Afro-American soldiers fought two wars adept over the Axis Powers and one with domestic racial prejudice.There is no sense for America to crusade for democracy if America could not do even exemplified it. There was no motive to guide an African-American soldier to shed blood for hypocrisy. In January 1942, a cafeteria worker named pack G. Thompson sent a letter to the Pittsburgh messenger that decided to confront the contradiction in terms of a Jim Crow army defending dem ocracy and proposed the figure triumph sign. The first V stood for achieve manpowert over Americas enemies abroad and the second V stood for conquest over African-Americans enemies at home.The Pittsburgh Couriers picture V bunk was a level-headed movement that provided incentive for African-American war efforts and effectively revealed the disparity among Americas ideals abroad and the reality at home. The twice V campaign instantly grabbed the attention of the Pittsburgh Courier which started publishing the Double V insignia in its February 7th edition. Thompsons letter made an immediate trespass due to its simple yet memorable slogan with the words. His Double V idea was great enough for a very popular caustic press to quickly support.The slogan gave voice to a democratic dreaming that would be widely shared across the surface area. African-Americans could quickly relate to the fetch because of its positive message. The Pittsburgh Courier used great tactics such as p hotographs to charge the Double V Campaign. The photographs in the paper had a womanhood with a VV on the back of her dress, a class of six graders flashing the Double V sign and a soldier forming a Double V with his hands and two military flags. The campaign did not deter patriotism or influence a turn against America.It called for the democratic lawfulness America tried to embody. Private Charles F. Wilson wrote to President Roosevelt, Are the Chinese to think that we are fighting to bring them freedom, equality, and justice, when they can see that in our build up major powers we are not even practicing what we preaching? This illustrates the powerful effect the campaign had in motivating people to stand up for the double success cause. Democratic America was a fraud in World struggle II and Thompsons letters called America bulge to be a true model for democracy.White America only had to worry about the supremacy over the Axis powers. The Double V showed the greater ch allenges colored Americans had to face. An African-American soldier named E. G. McConnell of the 76ist Tank Battalion said, I was in a unit I was damn proud of, and I knew that the things we did would shape the future for my children and grandchildren. The soldiers who entangle unsure about the war now had a certain dissolving agent which was that the ideal would be one day reached with enough sacrifices. The maintenance of patriotism is vital to unifying the country.Black and White Americans live in America. Love for ones country is something that can be undeniably shared. The Couriers introduction of the Double V Campaign had a brilliant disceptation which was WE HAVE A STAKE IN THIS FIGHT. WE ARE AMERICANS likewise This statement shows that all Americans no matter what race share the verity and pride for the country. Black and White Americans share the same goal in defeating the Axis Powers in the name of democracy. African-Americans have just as more than to lose as Whit e Americans. Support for the campaign also came from historied whites.Politician Thomas Dewey supported the campaign stating, All Americans must participate in the terrible struggle ahead in our munitions factories at home and in every branch of our armed forces on the battle fronts. This shows how the Double V campaign was able to make the difficultys on the home front evident. The Pittsburgh Courier showed a picture of a saturnine and white man presentation the Double V sign in its Feb 28, 1942 edition. This showed that the fight for democracy was not limited to that of a colored American. The Double V ideal was acquirable to all American people.The Courier gracefully executed a fight not against the whites exactly to fight with them. The National Association for the Advancement of colorise People (NAACP) denounced the armys segregationist policy A Jim Crow army cannot fight for a free world. The mutual effort among colored and white Americans was necessary to defeat th e evils of discrimination. There can be no peace and justice without cooperation because a change in a nation requires everyone. The editor of the Pittsburgh Courier wrote We call upon the President and Congress to retain war on Japan and against racial prejudice in our country.Certainly we should be strong enough to whip both of them. This statement illustrated Americas great potential to win both victories and amplified Americas greatness. If America is fighting for democracy abroad it should be easily able to fight for democracy at home. There was a calling for America to install it is a truly marvelous country that conquers any problem. The two victories coexist well because the fight is the same but just in different areas. Just as much as democratic principles were being eradicated in Europe by the Axis Powers democratic equality was being unattended in America.Black columnist George Schuyler said Our war is not against Hitler in Europe, but aganst Hitler in America. Our w ar is to get a democracy we never had. Schuyler points out that only is there a problem with World warfare II and the fight against Germany, but that there is a segregation and discrimination problem on United States soil. The victory at home is necessary for the victory abroad because there is no justification in fighting for a contradiction. Black soldiers presence made a huge difference for America. African-Americans were allowed into the credit line Corps on January 16, 1941 and the War incision office was flooded with applications.Although lightlessness soldiers were able to fight in the sky they still faced racial prejudice. Promotions of blacks were nonexistent it was obvious when young whites were promoted over blacks with years of exemplary military service. These black soldiers personally felt the harsh discrimination. Their hard work was overlook and there was nothing to be done about it. The War Department was stern on its traditional treatment of colored soldiers. These soldiers could not defy the discrimination. The Double V campaign gave them the ability to protest by transfuse the idea that fighting in the war will later leave behind in a better future.The soldiers were fighting for the second victory at home. A Tuskegee administrator said, When Negroes do not have to be incessantly on their guard against such unnecessary strains during the period of their flying pedagogy they will do better as flyers. This illustrated a contradiction because segregating teach camps is a definite example of racial discrimination. The segregation cultivated strains of query and hopelessness in the minds of the black soldiers. The Double V helped link black soldiers urge for victory in WWII with the hope for an end to discrimination and segregation.A black airman in the 99th, and an eventual Tuskegee Airman, every man in the 99th was mindful that the success of the 99th would impact the status of blacks in the Army Air Force and the army as a whole and that each man performed his duty as if the race depended on him. The Double V Campaign gave black America the opportunity to feel like they were a part of a greater struggle for freedom everywhere. One soldier said, Just chip at on my tombstone, Here lies a black man killed fighting a yellow man for the protection of a white man. This showed the paradox that they are expected to do the same dangerous and life risking things as the white man but do not reap the same benefits. Black soldiers were instinctive to protect country even though the consanguinity was not reciprocal. These black soldiers needed to risk their life for a worthy cause which is what the Double V Campaign did by providing them with the motive of victory on the home front. Considering U. S. involvement in WWII government officials began stressing the need of a united home front to ensure victory, and many blacks realized that whites could no longstanding ignore the issue of discrimination. With the incr easing participation of colored Americans in the war, the issue of discrimination became a bigger concern. The issue could no longer be avoided. The Double V stepped in at the perfect condemnation and confronted the issue of discrimination. As can be seen throughout the whole of this analysis, The Double V campaign was a profound movement that provided incentive for African-American war efforts and effectively revealed the disparity between Americas ideals abroad and the reality at home. Thompsons words were very inspiring because he showed the perseverance to overlook all the unjust treatment and still have optimism in America.The positive assertion contributed greatly to the success of the campaign. The Double V campaign was one of the most extensive patriotic drives in the country during the war because it kept black America appraised of the struggle for victory abroad and victory at home through numerous populaceations. World War II gave African-Americans the perfect opportun ity to change the ways of America. It was impeccable clock for the Double V campaign to start. Many African-Americans participated in the war and were willing to sacrifice their lives.There were also many African-Americans such as men in the military who questioned if was worth defending a nation exemplifying hypocrisy. The Double V Campaign was started for these people who represented the common theme of discrimination. It was during World War II in which the possibility of African-Americans being heard. The connection of the two victories was tricky because it demonstrated that African-Americans are fighting for everyone else and raises the question of why it is not reciprocated which shows that African-Americans are entitled to equal rights.There is a request for cooperation among all Americans to truly represent democracy. To be constantly brought down by discrimination and prejudices and still hang in is mind blowing showed the amazing patience African-Americans had. The Dou ble V campaign showed the public that there is a potential existence of an America practicing what it preaches where all men are created equal and no innate social, cultural or world right is withheld from you. 1 . Ronald Takaki, Double Victory A Multicultural History of America in World War II (Boston Little, Brown and Co, 2000), 25 2 .Michael S. Foley, Home Fronts A Wartime America Reader (New York The New Press, 2008), 56 3 . Takaki, 21 4 . Washburn, Pat The Pittsburgh Couriers Double V Campaign in 1942 (1981), 4 5 . Takaki, 30 6 . Takaki, 34 7 . James G. ThompsonThe Couriers Double V For a Double Victory Campaign Gets Country-Wide Support, The Pittsburgh Courier, February 14, 1942 8 . James Edward Boyack, Denounces narrow Placed on Negro in War Efforts, Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 28, 1942, 1 9 . Washburn, 8 10 . Takaki, 23 11 .Beth Bailey, The Double-V Campaign in World War II Hawaii African Americans, Racial Ideology, and Federal Power, daybook of Social History 26 4 ( March 1993) 817 12 . Takaki, 24 13 . Lynn M Homan, Black Knights The story of Tuskegee Airmen (Gretna, Lousiana Pelican Publishing Company, 2001), 30 14 . Homan, 71 15 . Homan, 34 16 . Lawrence P. Scott, Double V The well-bred Rights Struggle Of The Tuskegee Airmen (East Lansing, Michigan Michigan State University Press, 1992), 134 17 . Takaki, 34 18 . Washburn, 2 19 . Scott, 167