Why Do African Americans Join World War II?

World War II, officially beginning in 1939, was a time of military and economic expansion for the United States, but it also gave the U.S. an opportunity to gain a more important international role. This leads to the question of how this new role affected lives in America? Throughout (WWII), Americans claimed to be fighting for democracy and freedom abroad, focusing specifically on four freedoms (freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear); Unfortunately, Americans did not completely live up to all of these ideals at home, meaning American minorities were unable to experience these freedoms themselves. Even before the United States officially joined World War II, there were some ideals that were set into
In his essay, “The Negro Has Always Wanted the Four Freedoms”, written in 1944, Charles Wesley proved why African Americans were denied these freedoms. Welsey claimed that they always wished for freedom of speech, but instead they were supposed to be silent. They also wanted to have freedom of religion, but in the past they were supposed to, “steal away to Jesus” “in order to worship God” (Wesley, 204). In his essay, “Freedom of Worship” published in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1943, Will Durant spoke of freedom of religion in America in a different way. Durant believed that the church, “is the first and final symbol of America” (Durant, 189). Wesley would have most likely not agreed with Durant when he claimed, regardless of how or if someone worshipped, “It is not held against them” (Durant, 190). Wesley thought that almost more so than religion, African Americans yearned for the freedom from want, yet they were always in a competition with white workers, regardless of the state of the nation’s economy. Last but not least, African Americans wished to have freedom from fear; Wesley showed that this was not possible though when, “They have been beaten…as they have marched through the years of American life” (Wesley,