Connecting Civil Rights Movement: Desegregation to Current Events & Pop Culture

“African American newspapers of the time called it the ‘Double V Campaign.’ And although the victory over the Axis powers was complete, the results of the second struggle were decidedly mixed. The nation's unparalleled need for troops gave thousands of African American soldiers, including many in noncombat service units, the chance to prove their mettle in battle and put to rest the assertion by military brass that blacks lacked the courage, discipline and intelligence to fight effectively. But black soldiers generally received few medals for their accomplishments. They were kept in segregated units, made to sit behind German prisoners of war during USO concerts and banished from the very streets they had liberated once white nurses moved in.”