Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 White Racial Attitudes, 1937–1950
- 3 White Veterans and Racial Attitudes, 1946–1961
- 4 The Roosevelt Administration and Civil Rights During World War II
- 5 The Truman Administration, Military Service, and Postwar Civil Rights
- 6 War, Race, and American Political Development
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - The Roosevelt Administration and Civil Rights During World War II
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 July 2019
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 White Racial Attitudes, 1937–1950
- 3 White Veterans and Racial Attitudes, 1946–1961
- 4 The Roosevelt Administration and Civil Rights During World War II
- 5 The Truman Administration, Military Service, and Postwar Civil Rights
- 6 War, Race, and American Political Development
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines the Roosevelt administration’s record on civil rights in the context of the Second World War. Relying on internal executive branch documents, as well as attempts by black newspapers to get the administration to comment on the Double-V campaign, the chapter demonstrates the White House’s familiarity with the Double-V rhetoric of civil rights activists, and frames this as part of a larger debate within the Roosevelt administration about whether to maintain a New Deal focus on social policy or focus almost entirely on the military aspects of World War II. The chapter then examines how wartime activism compelled Roosevelt to issue an executive order to combat defense industry discrimination, while similar efforts to integrate the armed forces proved unsuccessful.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- World War II and American Racial PoliticsPublic Opinion, the Presidency, and Civil Rights Advocacy, pp. 95 - 127Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019