The wars that were fought simultaneously
The first African American U.S. Supreme Court member, Thurgood Marshall, stated, “In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Between the end of the WW1, in 11 November 1918, and the beginning of the WW2, in 1 September 1939, Britain had a fluctuating Black presence, with around 15.000 people living in areas like London, Liverpool, South Shields or Glasgow as a result of the WW1, when people that had fought during the war decided to make Britain their home.
With the return of White British to these areas, high level of unemployment, and a difficult recovery, people started to resent the new arrivals, and violence and riots escalated in different parts of the country, igniting the racism and discrimination that has stayed with us until today.
As for the rest of the country, many people had never met a Black person, and life continued until the start of WW2, where, again, it was asked from ‘the colonies’ their participation and support.
As news from Hitler’s violence towards Black people started to spread, those from across the British Empire, including Africa, India and the Caribbean, joined the war effort in large numbers, hoping to stop the advancements of someone that was hellbent on the decimation of Black people.
When Black people joined the fight, two different wars begun: one, against Hitler and the nazis, the other against the segregation, racism and discrimination, as many Black people were reject when they tried to join the military, despite a very public call for them to join the forces.
In the case of the colonies, many travelled to Britain, paying from their own pockets, when they were turned down while trying to enlist, and many, not being accepted, volunteered to be civilian defence workers, going through the war period providing health care as first-aid workers or stretcher-bearers, putting fires out, as firemen and fire-watchers, volunteering as air-raid wardens, working in canteens, street cleaning, whatever position they could be accepted.
In this period, nurses started to be recruited from Africa and the Caribbean, receiving training and being dispatched to all areas of Britain.As the nazi invasion continued, occupying country after country, Britain finally decided to lift the colour bar, allowing Black people to join the RAF.
However, this was not immediate, and only much later, in 1940/41, Black servicemen were fully accepted to increase the number of military in the Army and Royal Navy, bringing more people from the colonies, with over 17,500 Black people in the RAF that had arrived from the West Indies alone.
According to the War Office, during the WW2 there were around one million men coming from Africa and South Africa, that have joined the war effort, with 15,000 British African soldiers killed during the war. The contribution was not made only with lives, but many helped providing supplies, like food, ammunitions and equipment, along with their support work in factories, transportation, cooking, cleaning, farming and many other essential works.
Many of them were part of the Quartermaster battalions, that carried the burden of building cemeteries, handling corpses and burying the dead, as part of their many heavy duties. They had been enlisted due to a Government decision, but their participation, in the beginning, entailed cooking, cleaning, carrying bodies and work in construction of military bases.
The ‘Jim Crow’ story and America’s non-acceptance of Black people’s participation in the military is widely shown in many internet sites, by a large number of organisations, exposing acts of extreme cruelty throughout the years against Black military, and targeting veterans from previous wars.
Many accepted low positions, just because they believed in their contribution to the war effort.
And many more sacrificed their lives to protect their comrades in battle, no matter the colour.
Thurgood Marshall (Wikipedia)
Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing
African-American had an anthem during the WW2
“Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing”—A Powerful Anthem with an 120-Year History. During World War II, this anthem was sung by African Americans fighting fascism abroad and continuing the struggle for social justice in the United States.
It continued to be sung by troops in several occasions, affirming their rights to be considered ‘people’.
