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123 chapter four constructing g.i. joe louis In 1940, Franklin Roosevelt underscored the importance of African American patriotism when democracy was under siege. “The European conflict with its spread of the Nazi and Fascist influence makes a challenging appeal . . . . This is a time for national unity and I am strengthened in my hope for the preservation of peace . . . by the knowledge that the American Negro has maintained a cherished tradition of loyalty and devotion to his country .”1 Even before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the government’s priorities had shifted to the international arena, affecting federal rhetoric and policies concerning black Americans. As federal program administrators had celebrated cultural differences among racial and ethnic groups during the 1930s, War Department and Office of War Information (OWI) officials would continue this policy during the 1940s, while subsuming it under the banner of unity and patriotism. The war initiated new forms of government-sponsored culture on radio and film, and program administrators became much more wary of the kinds of projects they would develop. Congressional hostility towards the FWP and the FTP had proven how highly contentious and politically controversial images, sounds, and written representations could be. State officials understood that they would have to confront an explosive set of racial tensions while gingerly balancing competing political and social interests ; therefore, they treaded much more carefully in the construction of cultural programs. Articulating the precariousness of the situation, the OWI’s racial adviser, Milton Starr, declared, “the pure principles of democracy are far from fulfillment in the life of the American Negro. Considering the grave dangers facing the country, it is . . . desirable and necessary to chapter four CONSTRUCTING G.I. JOE LOUIS In 1940, Franklin Roosevelt underscored the importance of African American patriotism when democracy was under siege. “The European conflict with its spread of the Nazi and Fascist influence makes a challenging appeal . . . .This is a time for national unity and I am strengthened in my hope for the preservation of peace . . . by the knowledge that the American Negro has maintained a cherished tradition of loyalty and devotion to his country .”¹ Even before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the government’s priorities had shifted to the international arena, affecting federal rhetoric and policies concerning black Americans. As federal program administrators had celebrated cultural differences among racial and ethnic groups during the 1930s, War Department and Office of War Information (OWI) officials would continue this policy during the 1940s, while subsuming it under the banner of unity and patriotism. The war initiated new forms of government-sponsored culture on radio and film, and program administrators became much more wary of the kinds of projects they would develop. Congressional hostility towards the FWP and the FTP had proven how highly contentious and politically controversial images, sounds, and written representations could be. State officials understood that they would have to confront an explosive set of racial tensions while gingerly balancing competing political and social interests; therefore, they treaded much more carefully in the construction of cultural programs. Articulating the precariousness of the situation, the OWI’s racial adviser, Milton Starr, declared, “the pure principles of democracy are far from fulfillment in the life of the American Negro. Considering the grave dangers facing the country, it is . . . desirable and necessary to 124 CONSTRUCTING G.I. JOE LOUIS de-emphasize our many long-standing internal dissensions and to close ranks as much as practicable for the duration.”² As America entered the war, state program administrators sought to integrate black Americans into the cultural apparatus as they had done in the 1930s. Yet the treatment of racial issues would unfold within much tighter parameters. Unlike the Federal Arts Project, which administrators initially envisioned as an enterprise for creative autonomy and expression, wartime cultural programs were created with explicit goals of boosting morale and propagating the nation’s democratic ethos. In this highly charged political context, state administrators grappled with the precarious endeavor of promoting black inclusion while sidestepping the issue of racial equality. Although some officials understood and even sympathized with those African Americans who believed that the war against Fascism abroad exposed the hypocrisy of American racism, cultural program administrators abided by the official line that the war was not a testing ground for social reform. Official rhetoric during the war years slightly differed from the 1930s, when program directors sought to represent African Americans as part of a larger pluralistic ideology. In the 1940s, officials pronounced media-based programs the solution...

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