According to a new study from scholars at Harvard University, Black World War I veterans played a key role in shaping the early civil rights movement.
In 1917, the United States instituted the first nationwide draft of Black men to strengthen the country’s military during World War I. However, Black and White servicemen were segregated, resulting in nearly 90 percent the 400,000 drafted Black troops receiving labor-intensive or menial work assignments.
“For many Black soldiers, the Great War entailed a battle not only against German aggression abroad, but also against racial oppression at home,” the authors write.
Through examining U.S. Census data, military intelligence reports, and records from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the study authors found that by 1930, World War I veterans represented 15 percent of male members of the NAACP. Black men who were induced to enlist were three times more likely to join the NAACP and become prominent leaders in their communities after serving.
Black soldiers who experienced the most hostile treatment and racial abuse were the most likely to become NAACP members, particularly those who risked their lives in combat and those who worked in camps that denied training or promotion opportunities for Black troops.
Based on their findings, the authors believe “further work is necessary to trace the role of Black veterans in the evolution of racial discourse, civil rights, and national politics throughout the twentieth century. Through a broader lens, many of the same concerns about institutional discrimination expressed by those men continue to pervade communities of color today, though now directed towards other public agencies including police, hospitals, and schools.”
The authors conclude that enhancing our understanding of “these concerns may be as critical to the safety of democracy today as it was in 1917.”
