Period 3 - Women and Minorities during WWII by Ryan Easton

Bracero Program

reaston2_1 — 2018-03-01 23:29:01 UTC

(Will's group)

Who: Mexican migrant workers imported to the US to do agricultural work. There were many of them and were often discriminated against.

What: The Bracero Program was a War Time Program. The US wanted to import workers from Mexico and South America to prevent labor shortages during the war.

When: 1942-1964

Cause: California farmers predicted there would be a labor shortage in spring of 1942

Effect: 4.6 million Mexicans were working in the US and were often underpaid.

Significance: There was a lot of racial mistreatment and politicians were trying to figure out how to regulate the immigrant workers. The program was temporary and ended in 1965 but caused long-term repercussions regarding illegal immigrants.

Rosie the Riveter, Women in work force, Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, (later known as Women’s Army Corp)

reaston2_1 — 2018-03-01 23:29:01 UTC

(Clay's group)

Who: American Women.

What: About 150,000 women were auxilleries in the millitary. About a million joined the civilian workforce. Rosie the Riveter is an icon of World War II created to encourage and represent the women workforce during World War II

Cause: Shortage of manpower and increase in demand for labor.

Significance: WAC and WAAC highlighted women's contribution to national war effort, where they supplied additional resources and materials needed in military and industrial sectors. They established themselves as the beginning of the modern feminism and gender rights movement. Their accomplishments changed public's perceptions of women.

Effects: After the war women became more integrated into the workforce. Eventually lead to women being allowed into the regular military.

Double V: Executive Order 8802 and A. Philip Randolph

reaston2_1 — 2018-03-01 23:29:01 UTC

(Caitlin's group)

What/Who
Double V was a campaign for African Americans to mobilize for war but also for their own rights as citizens
Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, which banned “discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin.
Cause
When large numbers of African Americans moved to cities in the north and west to work in defense industries, they were often met with violence and discrimination
Effect
Randolph presented a list of grievances regarding the civil rights of African Americans, demanding that an Executive order be issued to stop job discrimination in the defense industry.
Significance
It was the first Presidential directive on race since Reconstruction. The order also established the Fair Employment Practices Committee to investigate incidents of discrimination.

Detroit Riots 1942-1943

reaston2_1 — 2018-03-01 23:29:01 UTC

(Kailee's group)
Event: In 1943 a riot broke out that lastedf 24 hours. From 10:30 on June 20 to 11:00 p.m. on June 21. it was considered one of the worst riots during the World war II era. America's ramped-up war effort led to the hiring of more african americans, the Detroit riots (June 20-22) killed 34 people — 25 African Americans, nine whites — wounded hundreds more and damaged and destroyed property worth millions.

Cause: The tension between the differnet races was a huge part of why the riots broke out. More than 20,000 white workers at a Detroit plant that produced engines for bombers and PT boats walked off the job in protest over the promotion of a small handful of black workers. There was also a rise in police brutality against african americans.

Some of the leading causes to the riots, and the sudden influx of black migrants from the south into the city, lured by the promise of jobs in defense plants.
Effect:
It first started out as a fist fight between a black and white man. The brawl eventually grew into a confrontation between groups of blacks and whites, and then spilled into the city. Stores were looted, and buildings were burned in the riot, most of which were located in a black neighborhood. The riot took place in an area of roughly two miles in and around Paradise Valley, one of the oldest and poorest neighborhoods in Detroit, Michigan.

Zoot-Suit Riots

reaston2_1 — 2018-03-01 23:29:01 UTC

June 1943 in Los Angeles, California
Summary: fights between zoot suiters and sailors and marines
Who/what: Between U.S. servicemen (sailors, marines) and Mexican American youth
Causes: Racism was the essential cause of the riots. Zoot suits were popular amoung Mexican Americans and Mexican American youth, but at the time the US War Production Board regulated the production of certain clothing containing silk, wool, and other essential fabrics. However, bootleggers continued producing Zootsuits and created tension with policemen, and during the war it came off as unpatriotic, and a waste of resources. Pressures related to U.S. involvement in WWII contributed to the racial tensions that preceded the riots
Effects: Zoot-suits were criminalized within the city limits of LA. Police arrested hundreds of Mexican American youth who'd previously been attacked by servicemen, but not many sailors or marines were arrested.
Significance: Los Angeles city council banned Zoot Suits after the riots. This shows how racism was the main factor of the riots. This is important to show that racism is still very present, and that something as banal and insignificant as a suit was used as an excuse to harrass minorities, especially Mexicans and Mexican Americans.

Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, Segregation in the US Military

reaston2_1 — 2018-03-01 23:29:01 UTC

(Jackson's group)

Who: Men in the US from ages 18 to 65, black soldiers

What: All men from ages 18 to 36 were required to register with local draft boards. When WWII started all men from their 18th birthday until the day before their 45th birthday were made subject to military service, and all men from their 18th birthday until the day before their 65th birthday were required to register. Black soldiers were segregated from white soldiers during the draft. Many times, black soldiers were passed over by all-white boards.

Cause: With Europe in the midst of war, FDR decided to create a draft to begin training American troops for war, despite the country being at peace during this time.

Effect: The US now had a surplus of troops that were ready to defend the country at a moments notice.

Significance:

There was discrimination in the military, during world war II. Many black unions, and protest groups rose demanding a responce to this segregation from the government. FDR responder passing E.O. 8802 which stated "there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin.”

Navajo code talkers

reaston2_1 — 2018-03-01 23:29:01 UTC

(Emma's group)

Who /what: Code talkers are people in the 20th century who used obscure languages as a means of secret communication during wartime.The name code talkers is strongly associated with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the Marines to serve in their standard communications units in the Pacific Theater.

Cause: People who were recruited into the marines used codes to serve in their communications unit

Effect:Their service improved the speed of encryption of communications at both ends in front line operations during World War II.

Significance: It was an effective way of communication for the U.S. because the Japanese couldn't decipher it, and it wasn't a language known anywhere outside the U.S.

US - 442nd infantry

reaston2_1 — 2018-03-01 23:29:01 UTC

(Paola's group)
Who/what: infantry regiment of the united states army made up of almost entireley soldiers of japanese ancestry
Fought in Europe

Effect:The heroism and combat record of the 100th/442nd were quickly acknowledged by the general population of the Territory of Hawaii. The record of the Japanese Americans serving in the 442nd and in the Military Intelligence Service (U.S. Pacific Theater forces in World War II) helped change the minds of anti-Japanese American critics in the U.S. and resulted in easing of restrictions and the eventual release of the 120,000 strong community well before the end of World War II.

Significance:The 442nd is considered to be the most decorated infantry regiment in the history of the US Army. The 442nd was awarded eight Presidential Unit Citations and twenty-one of its members were awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II.The 442nd became the most decorated unit of its size in U.S. military history. In less than two years of combat, the unit earned more than 18,000 awards, including 9,486 Purple Hearts, 4,000 Bronze Stars and 21 Medals of Honor.

Tuskegee Airmen

reaston2_1 — 2018-03-01 23:29:01 UTC

(Joys Group)
Who: Black pilots, bombardiers, and navigators who were trained in a segregated camp in Tuskegee, Alabama.

What: Black pilots were trained as an experiment at Tuskegee University between 1941 and 1948. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps (AAC), a precursor of the U.S. Air Force. They flew more than 15,000 individual sorties in Europe and North Africa during World War II.

Cause: During WWI, many African Americans were rejected from serving as pilots in the airforce due to discrimination in the military. An influx of black volunteer pilots who met all the requirements and who were inspired by people such as Amelia Earhart.

Effect: African Americans were allowed to contribute on the front lines in various groups which fought in air and bombed targets. Additionally, the Tuskegee Airmen challenged the idea that blacks simply weren't good enough to fly planes.

Significance: One of the first instances of black troops, which broke the stereotypes of blacks in the US. Paved the ground for more African-Americans in the US military. Political pressure exerted by the black press, civil rights groups, historically black colleges and universities, and others, resulted in the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen, making them an excellent example of the struggle by African Americans to serve in the United States military. The success of the Tuskegee Airmen proved to the American public that African Americans, when given the opportunity, could become effective military leaders and pilots. The Tuskegee Airmen reflect the struggle of African Americans to achieve equal rights, not only through legal attacks on the system of segregation, but also through the techniques of nonviolent direct action aimed at segregation in the military.