Activity Three

Presentation 3

By: Nathalie Brand

The changing face of race
and gender in America
WWI to Vietnam
Change in Views

The concept of race has evolved over time depending on the situation society
is in. People’s minds have changed and become more accepting of those who
are different from them. Now, not everyone has evolved their mindsets like
this, there are still people with “radical” ideas and are highly against anyone
who is not a white American. But over the years and through the duration of
several wars, the views of Americans have changed on different races and
cultures, many thinking more positively about those people and cultures and
becoming more and more accepting.
Segregation in the Military
Black soldiers have been apart of the American military for years, but they
have fought in segregated units. The Vietnam War was the first major conflict
where African Americans fought in fully integrated units. Executive Order
9981 helped make it possible for this to happen as it officially desegregated
the military in 1948. Except some units stayed segregated until 1954.

But, white soldiers in the south resisted and were against the desegregation
of the military. When soldiers in combat are together, they get along rather
well and have no racial barrier, but these actions and attitudes are very
different the attitudes that were seen back on the homefront. At home, there
are urban riots against integration; but in the military itself, there is great
positivity towards integration and everyone gets along and works well with
one another.
Article Analysis: Citizenship - Javier Zamora

“Those men those women could walk between booths; say hi to

white or brown officers no problem; the problem I think were
carts belts jackets; we didn’t have any; or maybe not the
problem; our skin sunburned all of us spoke Spanish; we didn’t
know how they had ended up that way; on that side; we didn’t
know how we had ended up here; we didn’t know but we
understood why they walk” (Zamora 1)
Article Analysis: Citizenship - Javier Zamora

The quote on the previous slide from the article Citizenship by Javier Zamora is able to
capture and explain that sort of change in perspective that people in the U.S. started to
have. Unless the quote is being misinterpreted by the creator of this presentation, the
creator believes that this quote captures the essence of how people were becoming more
accepting and were able to speak to others without disgust or the thoughts of inferiority.
People can walk down the street without fear, without negativity, without thinking about
their superiority; but with acceptance and love to share with all.
Works Cited

Goodwin, Gerald F. “Black and White in Vietnam.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 July 2017,

www.nytimes.com/2017/07/18/opinion/racism-vietnam-war.html.

“Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum.” Desegregation of the Armed Forces,

www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/desegregation/large/index.php?action=bg.

Citizenship by Javier Zamora