![]() ![]() ![]() “I don’t know if you can fully appreciate how I feel after 2 years of fighting to get an even break, trying to get an equal chance-without being judged purely from looks. His Library of Congress Veterans History Project collection includes this poignant letter to his wife describing his passion for service as well as his love for her. After two years of fighting for a chance to join the corps, Ogata finally gained a spot on a flight crew-not as a pilot, but as a turret gunner. Despite being a trained pilot, he was denied entry into the Army Air Corps because he was Japanese American. Kenje Ogata (1919−2012) felt called to serve his country after the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and enlisted in the Army the very next day. African Americans achieved notable firsts-Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball, and civil rights activists Bayard Rustin and George Houser led black and white riders on a “Journey of Reconciliation” to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses. The NAACP won important Supreme Court victories and mobilized a mass lobby of organizations to press Congress to pass civil rights legislation. Truman later issued an executive order that abolished racial discrimination in the military. President Harry Truman appointed a special committee to investigate racial conditions that detailed a civil rights agenda in its report, To Secure These Rights. were brought into sharp focus on the world stage, prompting federal and judicial action. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), an interracial organization founded to seek change through nonviolent means, conducted the first sit-ins to challenge the South’s Jim Crow laws.Īfter the war, and with the onset of the Cold War, segregation and inequality within the U.S. During this time African Americans became more assertive in their demands for equality in civilian life as well. Throughout the war, the NAACP and other civil rights organizations worked to end discrimination in the armed forces. The fight against fascism during World War II brought to the forefront the contradictions between America’s ideals of democracy and equality and its treatment of racial minorities. His Executive Order 8802, June 25, 1941, established the Committee on Fair Employment Practices (known as FEPC) to receive and investigate discrimination complaints and take appropriate steps to redress valid grievances. Philip Randolph threatened a mass march on Washington unless blacks were hired equally for those jobs, stating: “It is time to wake up Washington as it has never been shocked before.” To prevent the march, which many feared would result in race riots and international embarrassment, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order that banned discrimination in defense industries. In the spring of 1941, hundreds of thousands of whites were employed in industries mobilizing for the possible entry of the United States into World War II. Bayard Rustin Papers, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (068.00.00) Courtesy of Walter Naegle The Journey of Reconciliation-first “Freedom Ride”-standing outside office of Attorney S.
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