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Essay On African Americans In Ww2

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Black Soldiers in the American and French Army during WW2

Born in different hemispheres, black African Americans and black Africans have been scapegoats of hatred by White supremacists for centuries. Leading people to persecute Blacks, pride and nationalism were noticeable influences that infected people’s minds with prejudice. During World War II, these prejudices permeated combat. Black American and French troops played essential roles in the Allies’ victory over the Axis powers in France which resulted in the repossession of France. Although the contributions of Blacks in World War II were advantageous for the Allies, credit for their donations to warfare was minimally acknowledged.
Therefore, in this investigation, Blacks’ role in the …show more content…

The difference was the African American’ issue with inequality was unlike that of Black Africans specifically because during warfare bias against African Americans was blatant. However, for Black Africans, biases in the French Army occurred rather subtle and undercover. Based on the findings noted in the article, French African Soldiers in World War II, similar to the segregation in the American military, French-African troops experienced “blanchiment (whitening)”. Whitening was subtle segregation that took place within the French army. It was not until, in the midst of the war, a decision was made “to withdraw the Black African and some North African troops from the frontlines and to replace them with white French men”. This was contrary to the American Army which was segregated from the beginning, due to existing local and state Jim Crow laws in certain regions of the United States. Because this segregation essentially originated in former, Confederate states, Blacks in America referred to the American Army as the “Jim Crow Army” during civil rights …show more content…

The mission was to recapture France from the German Axis power. At times, being black in the war was beneficial. From the article, Black soldiers fighting in France, 1944, published in 2013, it is stated that “German infiltrators were disrupting the Americans defense by wearing American uniforms”. Because Germans had no Blacks in their army, both African Americans and Black Africans’ identities in the Allied forces went without question. Fortunately, it was less of a hassle for Black troops, unlike suspicious white troops who faced being deceived by German rivals in stolen American military attire pretending to be one of their

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