Black people had suspended their civil rights campaign 

As the war went on....

Due to campaigners, 600 black pilots 

(the Tuskegee Airmen) saw service

by 1945. All three services had black 

But - the armed forces were still segregated 

- blacks and whites could

not fight alongside each other.

Reactions

The membership of the NAACP (National 

Association for the Advancement

of Colored People) rose from 50,000 to 

450,000 during the war.

Some black people decided that the war 

had nothing to do with them.

Many black servicemen came back to America 

with new hopes after seeing the lack of 

segregation while they were stationed in Britain. 

For the first time they were actually able to go 

to the same places as white people.

They faced the biggest barrier from their white 

American colleagues who often fought them in 

bars and clubs.

Civil rights - a person's rights as a citizen, 

e.g. voting, housing, education.

lynching - the killing (usually by hanging) 

of a person who 'the mob' has decided is guilty 

of a crime, or even just an insult

right-wing - politics which is against change 

and equality

sit-ins - to protest by sitting down and refusing 

to move

segregated - divided up by race or colour

Socialist - a person who believes in full equality 

for all people

industry - work

discrimination - treating someone unfairly, 

because of who they are

colleagues - workmates