In this Book
- Fighting for Hope: African American Troops of the 93rd Infantry Division in World War II and Postwar America
- Book
- 2008
- Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press
- Series: War/Society/Culture
-
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
summary
This fascinating history shows how African-American military men and women seized their dignity through barracks culture and community politics during and after World War II.Drawing on oral testimony, unpublished correspondence, archival records, memoirs, and diaries, Robert F. Jefferson explores the curious contradiction of war-effort idealism and entrenched discrimination through the experiences of the 93rd Infantry Division. Led by white officers and presumably unable to fight—and with the army taking great pains to regulate contact between black soldiers and local women—the division was largely relegated to support roles during the advance on the Philippines, seeing action only later in the war when U.S. officials found it unavoidable. Jefferson discusses racial policy within the War Department, examines the lives and morale of black GIs and their families, documents the debate over the deployment of black troops, and focuses on how the soldiers’ wartime experiences reshaped their perspectives on race and citizenship in America. He finds in these men and their families incredible resilience in the face of racism at war and at home and shows how their hopes for the future provided a blueprint for America’s postwar civil rights struggles.Integrating social history and civil rights movement studies, Fighting for Hope examines the ways in which political meaning and identity were reflected in the aspirations of these black GIs and their role in transforming the face of America.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xv
- List of Abbreviations
- p. xvii
- Part I: The Crucible
- Part II: The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Holds the Shield
- 4. Service Families on the Move
- pp. 93-120
- Part III: Race and Sex Matter in the Pacific
- Essay on Sources
- pp. 309-312
Additional Information
ISBN
9781421428383
Related ISBN(s)
9780801888281, 9781421403090
MARC Record
OCLC
794701427
Pages
352
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
Yes
Creative Commons
CC-BY-NC-ND