The Social Impact of World War II on Minority Groups in America
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Chapter 25 Section 5: The Social Impact of the War
African Americans • Economic discrimination • Employers requested “whites only” during the Depression • June 25, 1941 FDR signed Executive Order 8802, opening jobs & job training programs in defense plants to ALL Americans
Also created the Fair Employment Practices Committee to hear complaints about job discrimination in defense industries & the government • Committee had no real power • March to protest was called off
African Americans shared in wartime prosperity • 1940’s more than 2 million moved to the north to find new job opportunities, but encountered new problems • Segregation • Fear & resentment from whites • Escalated into violence
Divided Opinions • 1942 poll: 6 of 10 whites thought African Americans were satisfied with existing conditions & needed no new opportunities • Launched a “Double V” campaign • Victory against the Axis • Victory in winning equality
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Chicago 1942 • Believed in using nonviolent techniques to end racism • Sit ins
Mexican Americans • The Bracero Program • 1942 agreement between Mexico & the US that provided transportation, food, shelter, & medical care for thousands of braceros • 1942-47 more than 200,000 worked on farms
Zoot Suit Riots • Mexican Americans began to wear “zoot suits” (long draped jackets & baggy pants with tight cuffs) • Often wore slicked back “ducktail” haircut • Offended many people
Groups of sailors roamed the streets in search of zoot suiters & would beat & humiliate them for looking un-American • June 1943- street fighting grew into full scale riots • Newspapers usually blamed the Mexicans • Army & Navy eventually intervened by restricting GI’s off duty access to LA
Native Americans • 25,000 joined the armed forces • Many migrated to urban centers to work in defense plants • 23,000 worked in war industries
Japanese Americans • Experienced strong racial prejudice after Pearl Harbor • Hostility grew into hatred & hysteria
Japanese Internment • Government decided to remove all “aliens” from the west coast • Executive Order 9066 • Authorized the Secretary of War to establish military zones on the west coast & remove “any or all persons” from such zones
Government set up the War Relocation Authority to move out everyone of Japanese ancestry • They would be interned in camps in remote areas far from the coast • Many lost their businesses, farms, homes, & other assets
All camps were located in desolate areas • Families lived in wooden barracks covered with cots, blankets, & a light bulb • Shared toilets, bathing & dining facilities • Barbed wire surrounded the camps & armed guards patrolled the grounds
Legal Challenges • 4 cases eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled that war time relocation was constitutional • Korematsu v. US (1944)- ruled that the relocation policy was not based on race
1945- government allowed Japanese Americans to leave the camps • 1988- Congress passed a law awarding each surviving Japanese American internee a tax free payment of $120,000
Japanese Americans in the Military • Refused to accept them until 1943 • More than 17,000 fought • More were Nisei
Working Women • New Kinds of Job • Before the war, most who worked were young & single • Mainly as secretaries, sales clerks, servants, etc.
Except teaching & nursing few entered professional careers • Almost everywhere women earned less than men • Number of working women rose by 1/3 • Rosie the Riveter
Benefits & Problems of Employment • Gave them self confidence & economic independence • Generally African American women worked in cooking, cleaning, child care, & other domestic jobs
When they applied for defense jobs, they were often prejudiced against • Some fought back through lawsuits • 1940-44 percent of African American women in industrial jobs increased from 6.8% to 18%
Problems • Hostile reactions from other workers • Earned less pay • Child care issues • Had to rely on family & friends • Also has household chores
After the War • Assumed that when the war was over, women would leave their jobs & return home • Many wanted to continue working