04.+African+Americans

**__ At War __** **James Farmer (1942)** - civil rights leader founded an interracial movement called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to confront urban segregation in the North. - As blacks moved into overcrowded cities, tensions soon began to rise. In 1943, a "tidal wave" of racial violence swept across the country. The violence of 1943 showed many Americans, just how serious and violent racial tensions had become in the U.S. By 1945 many communities had formed committees to improve race relations. Progress was slow, but many AA were determined not to give up.
 * World War ll was a turning point for most African Americans.
 * Although, segregation remained the in military. African Americans were assigned to all-black units, and rigidly segregated camps in the South for their training.
 * Due to great pressure from the civil rights organization, the military no longer restricted its all-black until to menial tasks.
 * The most famous black units were, the "99th Fighter Squadron (above right)," aka the "Tuskegee Airmen," who won two Distinguished Unit Citations for its outstanding aerial combat against Hitler's //Luftwaffe//. Including, the "92nd Infantry Division (above left)" aka the "Buffaloes" who won 7 Legion of Merit awards.
 * __At Home__ [[image:http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/dairy.jpg width="265" height="292"]][[image:http://www.accessclarkcounty.com/100/PublishingImages/rj-weekly-history-photos/25-carver-park.jpg width="297" height="308"]]**
 * Any African American who served in war, demanded their rights as citizens
 * Truman put his career on the line for civil rights. He set up a federal anti-lynching law, abolition of the poll tax as voting requirement(s), and a permanent body top prevent racial discrimination in hiring.
 * Wherever African Americans moved, discrimination also followed them.
 * During the war, about 330,000 blacks left the South. The majority moved to the West Coast, in where they found good jobs.
 * Between 1940 and 1944, the percentage of blacks working in skilled or semiskilled jobs rose from 16% to 30%.