Double V campaign

African American soldiers fighting abroad in the Second World War were subject to segregation within the U.S. armed forces, despite fighting on land that did not hold the same racist ideology as that which they experienced at home and during their service.[3] Despite this discrimination still prevalent within the US, some concessions were made domestically in regard to the war effort. In particular through President Roosevelt's issuing of Executive Order 8802 that banned employment discrimination in defence industries and civilian agencies of the federal government on grounds of race, creed or colour. It was not until July 28, 1948, when President Harry S. Truman put forth Executive Order 9981, that the U.S. armed forces were racially integrated.[4]

After the Japanese attack on the American naval base in Pearl Harbor, America sent in the 369th Division to defend the territory of Hawaii from air attacks. Response from Hawaiians toward the African American soldiers varied greatly. The territory was a volatile combination of racial tension and extreme state power, as it had not yet joined the American Union, which wouldn't happen until 1959. Hawaii did not have the ingrained segregation found within America at this time. Although stereotyping of minorities did occur, Hawaii is considered today to have been more progressive on the issue of race than mainland America.[5] There was no established place for African Americans as Jim Crow segregation laws within America had kept White and Black people in separate social spheres.[6] Racially driven stereotypes regarding African Americans did exist on the island and included rumors spread by non-African American soldiers that Black soldiers had monkey tails.[5] For example, many White soldiers refused to recognize higher-ranking Black officers. The discrimination African Americans experienced within the military in Hawaii fueled their fight to see the "Double V" campaign succeed. However, their experience of life in a community that didn't have such established racial ideas demonstrated what a double victory could achieve.[6]

Domestically, official channels began to take notice of the growing disaffection amongst African Americans in relation to their involvement in World War 2 as well as the 'Double V Campaign', with an Office of War Information report being published in 1942 detailing the condition in America. Likewise, the FBI conducted their own investigation through it's RACON (racial conditions in America) report, discovering that despite strong numbers of support in the war effort by African Americans, the discriminatory policies present at home as well as in the armed forces undermined US attempts to create a unified nation as well as highlighted the contradictions in American involvement in fighting against the oppression Nazi Germany, while displaying significant amounts of racism and xenophobia at home.[7]

The Courier was the most highly circulated Black newspaper during the war, with a readership of around 350,000. Other Black newspapers followed suit and adopted the campaign, including the Chicago Defender and the Amsterdam Star-News. The slogan was prompted by a response to the letter, "Should I Sacrifice to Live 'Half American?" written by 26-year-old reader James G. Thompson.[9] Since the Black press had been criticized for insufficient patriotism, they created the Double V Campaign as a means to counter this idea and promote patriotism among African Americans despite the hypocrisy of the US government. However, newspapers such as the Chicago Defender and Pittsburgh Courier also detailed discrimination and racism which African American troops were facing abroad during the war.[11]

The Double V Campaign had limited success. While it promoted patriotism and support for the war effort among African Americans, especially as the Allies won the war, it fostered a narrow appreciation for the complexity of African American wartime situations, and it did not address or impact the underlying structure of America's systems of institutional racism.[12] The campaign was also not a unifying force as many White, Southern newspapers and journalists criticized the slogan and characterized it as a dangerous revolution. The government tried to get the Black press to cease its agitation in an effort for greater rights.[13] Among African Americans, the Double V campaign had a 91% approval rating and was supported by various institutions and organizations, such as North Carolina A&T State University and United Automobile Workers. Support for the campaign was bolstered by wartime events such as the Port Chicago disaster and the Agana race riot, which underscored the disparities Black soldiers faced. The campaign also played a role at home in encouraging defense industries to hire African American employees who left the South in large numbers for the urban North and West Coast during the Second Great Migration to help the nation's war effort.[14] The 'Double V Campaign' did however aid in reshaping attitudes within the armed forces regarding race, helping to legitimise the role African Americans played in the US war effort in the eyes of society at large. This came in the form of a report ("Attitudes of the Negro Soldier") issued by the Research Branch of the Special Service Division of the US armed forces, which made the suggestions that important military duties should be assigned to black soldiers while news of military achievements performed by black soldiers should receive greater coverage and recognition, all done in an effort to convey to US citizens the crucial role played by African Americans in winning the war [15]

The press had a vital role in creating and spreading the idea of Double V in an effort to get more readers and Black men to enroll in the Army and support the war effort, as it was not a "white man's war." If Black people did not support the war effort and help America win, it could be problematic to win equality back home.[16] It was difficult to emphasize the importance of African American involvement in the war at a time when discrimination was apparent both in conscription and the wartime labor force. In addition, it was also a response to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had encouraged five editors of the top Black newspapers in the United States to reduce the discontent and apathy of their readers toward the war.[17]

The campaign naturally died down by 1943, and the Pittsburgh Courier only mentioned the successes of the campaign from that point on. However, it is still considered to be a turning point within African American history which led to unity among the Black population in regard to achieving this double victory in the long run.[13] The slogan and wartime protests marked a key development within Black protest movements and aided in laying the groundwork for the future Civil Rights Movement.[8] Nonetheless, the campaign had not fully achieved its goal, as discrimination was still legal in America after the war, despite the efforts of African American soldiers.[18] In this regard, the White House also failed to respond to progressive change within the African American population. However, the Double V Campaign helped lay the foundations for the later achievements and concessions made by the Civil rights movement as many of those Democrats elected to Congress between 1948 and 1958 were influenced by the increased wartime racial progressivism and so were instrumental in challenging the Conservative coalition's dominance in Congress, thus providing the necessary conditions in which the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were able to be passed.[19]