Minorities During WWII

What was the purpose of the Double V Campaign?

• to encourage African Americans to work for victory in the war and victory over discrimination at home

• to win the war in Europe and win the war in the Pacific

• to show patriotism by buying war bonds and planting victory gardens

• to encourage women to be both a good housewife and a good worker in war industries

Answer explanation

A newspaper in Pittsburgh started the Double V Campaign during World War II. It encouraged African Americans to work for victory in the war, but also for victory over discrimination and racism at home. The photograph shows a group of musicians promoting the Double V Campaign. They are making “V”s for victory and holding up posters with the “Double V” logo on them.

A. Philip Randolph and other leaders of this campaign were

able to convince President Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802, which assured fair hiring practices in any

job funded with government money and established the Fair Employment Practices Committee to enforce

these requirements. By 1944, nearly 2 million African Americans worked in defense industries, although

racist practices were still common.

In addition to training the Tuskegee Airmen as the first African-American fighter pilots in the US Army Corps, what has the Tuskegee University achieved? (select all that apply)

• More U.S. Presidents have visited Tuskegee University than any other African American college or university.

• The ROTC Program at Tuskegee has produced more African American general officers in the military than any other institution.

• Tuskegee University is the only HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) with a fully accredited College of Veterinary Medicine that offers the Doctoral Degree.

• Tuskegee University is only known for training the Tuskegee Airmen and nothing more.

Answer explanation

Founded in 1881, the Tuskegee Institute aimed to give African Americans a more advanced education. It offered technical, industrial, and agricultural training as well as academic studies and teacher training. It is a private university in Tuskegee, Alabama. The campus is designated as the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site by the National Park Service.

During the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943, Mexican youths were stripped of their clothes and beaten because the zoot suit was considered _____.

• unfashionable

• unpatriotic

• exensive

• patriotic

Answer explanation

Because the manufacture of zoot suits was banned during the war due to fabric rationing, many looked down on the zoot suiters as un-American and unpatriotic.

Which statement best summarizes the experience of braceros who came to the U.S. from Mexico as part of the Bracero Program?

• Braceros were offered citizenship and 50 acres of land if they stayed and worked in the U.S. for 5 years.

• Braceros who came to the U.S. as part of this program were fully accepted by Americans and were always treated fairly.

• Although the work was grueling and housing substandard, many braceros endured these conditions, hoping to make more money than they would at home.

• Braceros who came to the U.S. were put in internment camps because the U.S. government was afraid that they were spies.

Answer explanation

Beginning in World War II, the Bracero Program brought Mexican laborers to the United States to remedy wartime production shortages. The program (which derived its name from the Spanish word for a manual laborer, “bracero”) continued until 1964, with braceros working mainly in agricultural areas in the Southwest and on the West Coast. Braceros worked long hours for low wages in difficult jobs that separated them from their families. In the United States, they also faced discrimination and became the subject of national labor debates.

Which group pf American citizens were forcibly denied their rights and civil liberties during the war?

• Germans

• Japanese

• Mexicans

• Italians

Answer explanation

Starting in February 1942, Japanese Americans on the West Coast were forced to move to internment camps in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.

Japanese Americans could only take what they could carry to internment camps. Since they were given little notice before evacuation, many were forced to sell their homes, businesses, or farms at a loss.

Most of the camps, like this one at Tule Lake in California, were in remote and desolate areas. The camps were surrounded by barbed wire fences and guard towers equipped with machine guns and searchlights.

“Korematsu was not excluded from the military area because of hostility to him or his race. He was excluded because we are at war with the Japanese Empire, because the . . . authorities feared an invasion of our West Coast and felt constrained to take proper security measures.”

—Justice Hugo Black in Korematsu v. United States, 1944

Which generalization is supported by this quotation?

• Individual rights need to be maintained in national emergencies

• The Supreme Court lacks the power to block presidential actions taken during wartime

• Individual rights can be restricted under certain circumstances

• Only the Supreme Court can alter the constitutional rights of American citizens

Answer explanation

In response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, the U.S. government decided to require Japanese-Americans to move into relocation camps as a matter of national security. President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, two months after Pearl Harbor. A Japanese-American man living in San Leandro, Fred Korematsu, chose to stay at his residence rather than obey the order to relocate. Korematsu was arrested and convicted of violating the order. He responded by arguing that Executive Order 9066 violated the Fifth Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled against him.

How did World War II change the employment situation for women?

• The wartime standard of “equal pay for equal work” meant that women earned the same as men who did the same work.

• The number of young women in the work force increased because they could do heavy wartime work, but older women were pushed out of the work force.

• Women were needed on the home front so they were less likely to work once married.

• More women were able to find jobs in manufacturing and other fields not traditionally considered to be women’s work.

Answer explanation

During the Second World War, women proved that they could do "men's" work, and do it well. Yet women's employment was only encouraged as long as the war was on. Once the war was over, women were encouraged to return to the role as "housewife."

Tupperware home sales allowed women to do income-producing work they didn't call "work", but instead "having parties." (see image)

This poster was made to encourage

• women to buy war bonds.

• women to serve as nurses.

• women's service in the military.

• women's assistance in veteran's programs.

Answer explanation

In the photo, a group of African American women serving in the Women's Army Corps arrive in Europe during WWII. WACs in Britain often helped sort and deliver mail during the war, a task appreciated by American soldiers.

During WWII, the Navajo code talkers invented a code that was never broken by the enemy.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

During World War II, the Marine Corps enlisted about 400 Navajo as "Code Talkers." These soldiers sent secret messages containing vital combat information over telephone and radio via a special code. The code began with the Navajo language—which is spoken by very few people who are not Navajo—and was encrypted by using word substitution.

Which statement best summarizes the experiences of gays and lesbians during WWII?

• The war brought many gays and lesbians together, but it also isolated them rom the right to serve and benefit from their service.

• Gays and lesbians could openly serve in the U.S. military for the first time.

• The U.S. military forced gays and lesbians to undergo shock therapy before joining the war effort.

• Gays and lesbians served in segregated units of the U.S. military and received every major award.

Answer explanation

At the time, homosexuality was classified as a mental illness by the medical community. Mental illness was one condition that disqualified young people from service.