Question: In what way did World War II specifically change the lives of these minority

or disenfranchised groups?

Response: From researching the following documents related to the effects of minorities

or disenfranchised groups during the time of World War II and reading the book, American

Civilization: A Brief History, people of multiple races or genders were affected by the war either

in a good or bad way. World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945, where it was a war that was the

Axis powers against the Allied powers. The Axis powers being Italy, Japan, and Germany. While

the Allied powers being Great Britain, France, Soviet Union, and the United States. During this

global war, there was many successes and failures that were made by both groups. The war not

only impacted the government, religion and economy throughout the world but the public as

well. The lives of women, African-Americans, and Mexican-Americans were changed drastically

during the time of World War II by women taking on new roles, African-Americans getting

involved in the war, and Mexican-Americans population growing.

Women during World War II went from working at home or either at low paying jobs to

working in factories and offices that were only considered to be run by men. Since most of men

were drafted for the war, women took on their jobs and were getting paid more than they ever

did before. Women just didn’t only take on the roles of men in the workforce, but they also took

on military opportunities as well. There was “Over three hundred fifty thousand women

volunteered for military service” (Women, Gender, and World War II). Their involvement in the

war consisted of working as “nurses, drove trucks, repaired airplanes, and performed clerical

work...chemists and engineers, developing weapons for the war” (American Civilization: A Brief

History, pg. 379). Having women taking on the role of men during the war was concerning for
men to understand but in the end, it was a step towards an equality between men and women in

the workforce.

However, African-Americans took on new opportunities as well in dealing with the war.

During the war, “2.5 million African-Americans registered for the draft, and 1 million of them

subsequently served” (American Civilization: A Brief History, pg. 380). They first assisted in the

war as “non-combat units and relegated to service duties, such as supply, maintenance, and

transportation” (African Americans in World War II) and eventually were moved to more

advanced roles such as “infantrymen, pilots, tankers, medics, and officers” (African Americans

in World War II). Which established one of the most famous group of African-Americans pilots

known as the Tuskegee Airmen. African-Americans were still mistreated in society but their role

in the war created more opportunities for them to work for a wage, where they can now earn

more money to support their families.

Furthermore, Mexican-Americans lives were also impacted by their acceptance into the

United States in the turning of the war. The population of Mexican-Americans grew when the

United States made “Over 100,000 contracts were signed between 1943 and 1945 to recruit and

transport Mexican workers to the United States for employment” (Mexican Americans and

World War II). They were migrated to the United States to replace the jobs that the African-

Americans and white men who worked in the fields and the railroads. This created the “Bracero

Program” that was an agreement between Mexico and the United States in the migration of

Mexican Americans to the United States for the war. By bringing Mexican-Americans into the

war, there was riots against them on how they dressed, and they were known as “Zoot-Suits

Riots”. Which made them more eager “to want more of the American Dream: better education,

better jobs, and an end to racism and discrimination” (Mexican Americans and World War II).
Because of the war, they were considered as civilians of the United States and they now were

needed for something much more than just war.

Women, African-Americans, and Mexican-Americans were an important role in the war

between the Axis and Allied Powers. They took on new opportunities in the workforce and in the

war that overall changed the tides of the war. The acceptance of women, African-Americans and

the Mexican-Americans into the participation of the war, made them into something more than

what they used to be. By having women taking on the roles of men or African-Americans taking

on new roles in the war or Mexican-Americans to migrate, World War II could have had ended

differently than what we now know of today.

Citations

“African Americans in World War II.” The National WWII Museum,

www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2017-07/african-americans.pdf.

American Civilization: A Brief History. OpenStax College, 2014,

file:///C:/Users/cortn/Downloads/HIST_1700_Whole_3rd_Ed%20(4).pdf.

Samora, Julia, and Patricia Vandel. “Mexican Americans and World War II.” A History of the

Mexican American People, Nov. 2003,

hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/mexicanamericansandworldwarii.pdf.

McEuen, Melissa A. “Women, Gender, and World War II.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of

American History, 8 June 2017,

americanhistory.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore

-9780199329175-e-55?rskey=B4uK51&result=1.