A Look at America in the 1940s

Paper Summary:

The following paper looks at how the Second World War changed American society in ways that few could have envisioned in 1939, by changing how African Americans and women saw themselves. It also explores the social, cultural, economic, racial, political, and gender contexts of the age in which two important primary documents shedding light on the struggles of both of these aforementioned groups were written.

From the Paper:

"In 1941, A. Philip Randolph penned an article in the Black Worker entitled, "Call to Negro America to March on Washington for Jobs and Equal Participation in National Defense." In this piece, Randolph spoke of a "crisis" unfolding within America - a crisis that involved America's black population. As Randolph put it, "What is this crisis? To American Negroes, it is the denial of jobs in Government defense departments. It is racial discrimination in Government departments. It is wide-spread Jim-Crowism in the armed forces of the nation." Mr. Randolph went on to vigorously argue for full integration in the nation's fighting forces and for jobs in critical national defense projects; he also told his readers of what would happen to America if the cries of African-Americans for equal treatment was not reached: "if American democracy will not defend its defenders; if American democracy will not give jobs to its toilers because of race or color; if American democracy will not insure equality of opportunity, freedom and justice to its citizens, black and white, it is a hollow mockery and belies the principles for which it is supposed to stand..." In the end, it may be argued that the cataclysmic upheaval of a world war became the moment within which African-Americans set in motion the civil rights movement still to come."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Feldman, Glenn. Politics, Society and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1999.
• Harris, Mark Jonathan, Franklin D. Mitchell, and Steven J. Schechter. "Women in War Industries." In For the Record: A Documentary History of America, vol.II, edited by David E. Shi and Holly A. Mayer, 254-57. Originally published in Mark Jonathan Harris, Franklin D. Mitchell and Steven J. Schechter, eds., The Homefront (USA: Putnam Berkley, 1984).
• Randolph, A. Philip. "A Call to Negro America to March on Washington for Jobs and Equal Participation in National Defense." In For the Record: A Documentary History of America, vol.II, edited by David E. Shi and Holly A. Mayer, 252-54. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Originally published in Black Worker 14 (May 1941): n.p.
• Rice, Arnold S. The Ku Klux Klan in American Politics. Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press.

More papers on A Look at America in the 1940s:

• Book Review # 145613 : "The Mexican Revolution: 1910-1940" - A Book Review"
• Analytical Essay # 134570 : "African American Women in the 1940s"
• Analytical Essay # 146711 : "The Role of America in the World"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: