African Americans in WWII

During WWII, more than 2.5 million African American men registered for the draft, and African American women volunteered in large numbers.When combined with black women enlisted into Women's Army Corps, more than one million African Americans served the Army during the War. At home, African Americans proactively fought for their right to work in positions in the Defense industry, facing discrimination and segregation.

Robinson is the first African American player to play on a major league team. In 1945 he served some time in the U.S army but he earned an honorable discharge after facing a court-martial for refusing to move to the back of a segregated bus, he then joined the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League. His plays caught the eye of the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers who had already been thinking about bringing an end to segregation in baseball. The manger signed him to a Dodgers farm team that same year and two years later moved him up, Robinson then went on earning big names for himself and his team, rookie of the year honors after playing his first game with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

Rosa Parks is a well historically known figure for not going to the back of the bus and give up her seat to a white man after being told to by the driver in Montgomery Alabama but, she is not the first to take this actions. On March 2nd, Claudette Colvin at 15 years old when she took the brave risk to not giver her seat up to a white passenger that was also riding the bus. She was the arrested with several chargers because of the segregation laws. Collin's story is not as know as Park's mainly because of her age and the fact she was pregnant. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored considered using her case to challenge the segregation laws but then decided against it due to those reasons.

On July 2nd the The Civil Rights Act was signed by former president John F.Kennedy. It meant that employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin was prohibited.