Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-8mjnm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T14:22:49.671Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

21 - Defending the Lands of Their Ancestors: The African American Military Experience in Africa during World War II

from FIVE - EXPERIENCING WAR IN AFRICA AND EUROPE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

Daniel Hutchinson
Affiliation:
Belmont Abbey College
Judith A. Byfield
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Carolyn A. Brown
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Timothy Parsons
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
Ahmad Alawad Sikainga
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
Get access

Summary

In December 1942, as the outcome of World War II remained uncertain, African American newspapers across the United States focused on West Africa. A contingent of African American soldiers had landed in Liberia to establish an Allied presence in one of the continent's remaining two independent nations; Ethiopia was liberated on January 18, 1941. As the Pittsburgh Courier noted, the war had brought African American soldiers “back to the land of their ancestors … helping the new Allied partner maintain its freedom and keep out enemy invaders.” The soldiers arriving in Liberia were the first of tens of thousands of African American military personnel that served in over a dozen African countries during the war. African American soldiers, sailors, marines, and medical staff interacted with local peoples wherever they served, forming relationships that transcended the barriers of language and culture. These encounters left lasting marks on both African American veterans and Africans that would shape their postwar experiences in the decades ahead. While considerable scholarship has examined the African American contribution to World War II in other combat theatres, the African American military experience in Africa has received little scholarly attention. This chapter provides a preliminary examination of this topic and suggests avenues for future research.

African Americans have served in the U.S. armed forces since the nation's founding. Their sacrifices on the battlefield were means by which African Americans advanced the cause of racial equality, whether to end slavery during the American Civil War or to achieve simultaneous victories over Fascism and Jim Crow during World War II's “Double V” campaign. Jim Crow's malignant influence extended to the American military itself, with the nation's armed forces as segregated as American society. With few exceptions African Americans fought in segregated units, slept in separate barracks, ate in separate mess halls, and enjoyed leisure time in separate recreational facilities. The American Red Cross even separated African American blood into segregated blood banks.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×