The Education of Negro Soldiers in World War II

Abstract

From a background poor in most of the necessities for a full life, almost 1,200,000 American Negroes entered the Armed Forces to engage in World War II. These people stepped into the severest testing grounds of all time, a period of history that was to tap their talents and stimulate their thinking. War production forced sweeping changes in American life. Training opportunities were thrown open to people who had never before enjoyed them and employment zoomed to new heights. In this war-time boom, Negroes shared more fully than ever before in the American economy. Prejudices in training and employment were temporarily overcome by the urgent life-and-death demands of the war. In this situation, a progressive government and the weight of large Negro organizations were able to bring Negroes a fuller share in World War II than they had ever achieved in any of America's previous wars. For Negroes in the armed forces this meant, along with whites, schooling in mechanical skills for a mechanical war. It was a long-sought opportunity, and hundreds of thousands eagerly pursued it. General Somervell, Commanding General Army Service Forces, had warned America: We can lose this total war on the battle front as a direct result of losing it on the educational front. Education is the backbone of the Army. 1 The armed forces heeded his words when they discovered that there was an alarming number of illiterates and unskilled people among the men turned over to them for training. A twentieth century war required literate, skilled men to run its expensive machines.