Provide analysis of how to advocate for your position with specific details as evidence.

  1. Provide analysis of how well the Constitution promotes one specific ideal or principle logically connected to your position on the issue. (What does the Constitution say about this issue, or rights related to this issue? How does this support your thesis?)

  2. Provide an evaluation of how well the Constitution was upheld by a court case OR a government policy related to your position on the issue.

    At the start of WWII, many African Americans in particular had mixed feelings about supporting the war effort when their own country did not offer them the freedom America was fighting for overseas. Soon after America joined the war, James Thompson, a cafeteria worker in Kansas, coined the phrase “Double Victory” in a letter to the African-American newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier.

    “The V for victory sign is being displayed prominently in so-called democratic countries which are fighting for victory over aggression, slavery and tyranny. If this V sign means that to those now engaged in this great conflict, then let we colored Americans adopt the double VV for a double victory. The first V for victory over our enemies from without, the second V for victory over our enemies from within. For surely those who perpetrate these ugly prejudices here are seeking to destroy our democratic form of government just as surely as the Axis forces.”

    Two months after his letter was printed, Thompson joined the army, determined both to help win the war and make America live up to its democratic promise. And the phrase he introduced — the Double V — was embraced as a powerful symbol by millions of other Americans during the course of the war.

    Defense industries proved to be a critical battleground in the struggle for a victory for civil rights at home. As preparations for war accelerated in early 1941, minority groups hoped they would benefit as much as the rest of the country from the new jobs in military production. But black workers were often shut out of defense plants, and when they could find work, it was often in the most menial, dangerous, and low-paying jobs

    The segregated armed forces in which Gray had served finally began to be integrated by Executive Order 9981 in 1948. And in the decades after victory was won overseas, black veterans like him would play a crucial role in the postwar struggle for civil rights, once again putting their lives on the line to assure that victory would be won at home as well. NAACP chapters began to protest at defense plants, and in the spring of 1941 the union leader and civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph threatened to stage a massive protest at the White House, calling for an end to discrimination in the armed forces and in defense industries. With the march looming, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 in June 1941, outlawing discrimination in war industries and establishing a Fair Employment Practices Commission to investigate complaints and take remedial action. Civil rights leaders applauded the move and cancelled the march. The order did not address segregation in the armed forces and had little enforcement power, but it was the first federal gesture toward civil rights since Reconstruction and represented a significant victory for the rights of African Americans.

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  3. A fair interpretation of a position on the issue that contrasts with your own. (Show that you understand the opposing viewpoint)

    African Americans in World War II Fighting for a Double Victory African Americans served bravely and with distinction in every theater of World War II, while simultaneously struggling for their own civil rights from “the world’s greatest democracy.” Although the United States Armed Forces were officially segregated until 1948, WWII laid the foundation for post-war integration of the military. In 1941 fewer than 4,000 African Americans were serving in the military and only twelve African Americans had become officers. By 1945, more than 1.2 million African Americans would be serving in uniform on the Home Front, in Europe, and the Pacific (including thousands of African American women in the Women’s auxiliaries). During the war years, the segregation practices of civilian life spilled over into the military. The draft was segregated and more often than not African Americans were passed over by the all-white draft boards. Pressure from the NAACP led President Roosevelt to pledge that African Americans would be enlisted according to their percentage in the population. Although this percentage, 10.6%, was never actually attained in the services during the war, African American numbers grew dramatically in the Army, Navy, Army Air Force, Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard. While most African Americans serving at the beginning of WWII were assigned to non-combat units and relegated to service duties, such as supply, maintenance, and transportation, their work behind front lines was equally vital to the war effort. Many drove for the famous “Red Ball Express,” which carried a half million tons of supplies to the advancing First and Third Armies through France. By 1945, however, troop losses virtually forced the military to begin placing more African American troops into positions as infantrymen, pilots, tankers, medics, and officers in increasing numbers. In all positions and ranks, they served with as much honor, distinction, and courage as any American soldier did. Still, African American MPs stationed in the South often could not enter restaurants where their German prisoners were being served a meal. On D-Day, the First Army on Omaha and Utah Beaches included about 1,700 African American troops. This number included a section of the 327th Quartermaster Service Company and the 320th Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, which protected troops on the beach from aerial attack. Soon the all-black 761st Tank Battalion was fighting its way through France with Patton’s Third Army. They spent 183 days in combat and were credited with capturing 30 major towns in France, Belgium, and Germany. The Army Air Force also established several African American fighter and bomber groups. The famous “Tuskegee Airmen” of the 332nd Fighter Group became part of the 15th Air Force, flying ground support missions over Anzio and escorting bombers on missions over Southern Italy. The Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 15,000 sorties May 1943 and June 1945. Bomber crews often requested to be escorted by these “Redtails,” a nicknamed acquired from the painted tails of Tuskegee fighter planes. Sixty-six Tuskegee Airmen died in combat. Stephen Ambrose identified the lamentable American irony of WWII, writing, “The world’s greatest democracy fought the world’s greatest racist with a segregated army” (Ambrose, Citizen Soldier). During the global conflict, African American leaders and organizations established the “Double V” campaign, calling for victory against the enemy overseas and victory against racism at home. This new black consciousness and the defiant rejection of unjustifiable racism planted important seeds for the post-War civil rights movement. The National WWII Museum honors the contributions of African Americans in Word War II.