African-Americans in World War I

Study Notes

World War I takes place during a time of rampant white supremacy in the United States, denying African-Americans equal rights despite their citizenship.
At the onset of the war, the majority of African-Americans reside in the rural South, decades after the Civil War, under a new system of segregation and sharecropping.
Opportunities in war industries in the North for African-Americans arise, leading to the Great Migration of nearly one million African-Americans by 1919.
Women, both white and African-American, play significant roles in supporting the war effort through various organizations.
African-American women are denied the opportunity to serve as nurses or work in the YMCAs abroad, while only two are allowed to go.
African-Americans contribute substantially to the war effort, raising over $250 million in war bonds despite having little wealth.
The question of whether African-Americans should serve in the war arises, with motivations being a desire to prove loyalty and patriotism for acceptance as citizens.
African-American soldiers face a range of experiences, with some performing labor work and others serving in combat units, like the Harlem Hellfighters, who compile impressive records.
The Harlem Hellfighters, made up of 12,000 men, experience a stark contrast when they are sent to serve in French divisions and achieve great successes.
Black soldiers return from the war expecting better treatment but face hostility and resentment from white Americans, leading to racial riots in 1919, known as the Red Summer.
W.E.B. Du Bois, upon interviewing African-American troops in Europe, declares "We return from fighting. We return fighting," signaling a continued fight for equality and a stronger push towards the civil rights movement.