In a previous
post I focused on how whites depended on African Americans to assist them
during the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878 and then immediately took away their
rights when they had the ability to do so. This post will run along a similar
vein:
This photograph
from World War Two is of particular interest because it represents a relatively
rare interaction. Here, soldiers of the Free French Army are giving candy to
African American troops. During World War Two, African American troops were
assigned to segregated units and, just as Japanese units, were often fed into
the worst possible combat situations. In addition to this, the equipment given
to African American units was inferior and they rarely received experienced
white officers. As a result they suffered proportionally higher casualty rates
– just as units with a high proportion of African Americans did in Vietnam.
During the war, African American units would be subject to the racism of their
own white comrades.
This picture
then depicts a rare moment of respect between a white soldier and a black
soldier – the interaction, likely very brief, still meant a great deal as the
African Americans were being given thanks for helping to liberate the town from
the Germans. And after this experience and others like it, African American
troops would return to a south in which their very humanity was stripped away
by law and a north in which they and their families were confined to dirty and
crowded ghettos. Again, African Americans had helped their oppressors and would
receive very little or no reward. Public recognition was given in some places
but in the South there was another string of post-war lynchings. Again, this
picture represents a rare moment during which African Americans were thanked
for their massive sacrifices in the name of a country that disowned them and a
system designed to keep the status quo of white superiority.
Also, for more
photographs like this one, check out this link!
I really think this image and post speaks to the sad nature of their sacrifice in the face of oppression at home. It also makes us have to take a step back and reevaluate our view on the question "what are we fighting for"? While we fight wars today in the name of protecting our country against terrorists, this allows us to have a conceptual image of the enemy. For African Americans, they are facing a two front war, one at home and abroad. This sad reality in my opinion undermines America's theoretical fight for freedom in World War II.
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