The American Red Cross’s segregation of African American blood donations during World War II actively upheld systemic racism in a critical realm: life-saving medical care. Influenced by pseudoscientific beliefs about…
Category: Military
In 1865, Congress Created the Freemen’s Bureau. But, Sometimes, Good Intentions Breeds Detractors.
Establishment The Freedmen’s Bureau was established on March 3, 1865. It was officially known as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Congress created it during the closing months…
The Lost Cause Myth, A Cycle of Historical Distortion and Racial Oppression. At The Start of The Jim Crow Era.
The Lost Cause myth and the Jim Crow era, two intricately woven threads in the fabric of American history, share a complex and troubled relationship. Emerging from the ashes of…
The 6888th Central Postal Battalion, Six Triple Eight. “No mail, no morale.”
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion comprised entirely of African American women, faced discrimination and adversity head-on while delivering an essential service to WWII troops overseas. In the early 1940s,…
Charles Jackson French, The Human Tugboat
The U.S. Navy will honor World War II hero Charles Jackson French, a Black cook aboard the USS Gregory during the Battle of Guadalcanal, by naming a new Arleigh Burke-class…
“ICYMT” Events That Made History This November
Us Army overturns century-old convection of black soldiers. The convection involved 110 black soldiers; of those, 19 were executed. Stemming from the Houston Riots on Aug 23, 1917, the Army…
The 761st Tank Battalion, AKA the “Black Panthers” of WWII
The 761st Tank Battalion was a segregated unit of the United States Army during World War II composed primarily of African American soldiers. The battalion was activated in April 1942…
Good Blood, Bad Policy: The Red Cross and Jim Crow
BY MELBA NEWSOME Jan 18, 2023 A 1940s Red Cross rule, which racially segregated blood, propped up notions of racial difference and Black inferiority. In the summer of 1941, months…
How The All-Black 54th Massachusetts Regiment Changed History During The Civil War
By Kaleena Fraga | Edited By Jaclyn Anglis Published February 7, 2023 Updated February 10, 2023 Immortalized in the 1989 movie Glory, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was one of the most storied…
Black WWII soldiers asked a white woman for doughnuts and were shot
By JUSTIN WM. MOYERTHE WASHINGTON POST • January 15, 2023 About two weeks after the end of World War II in Europe, French women were serving U.S. soldiers coffee and doughnuts in a…