TO UNDERSTAND EQUITY and racial justice today, we have to look to the past. I study the causes and consequences of discrimination. My current research looks at the historical origins of the Civil Rights Movement, which was one of the most consequential, transformative social movements in U.S. history. It paved the way for landmark legislation like the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act that shaped democracy in the United States. We know very little about what caused people to stand up and fight for their rights and demand equal representation under the law.
My current work looks at the potential role of Black veterans in pushing for equality in the United States.
If you look at the history of surges of civil rights activism in this country, often they coincide with major wars. The “New Negro” era of the 1920s and 1930s took place after Black veterans had returned from World War I. School desegregation under Brown vs. Board of Education in the 1950s came after World War II. Lots was happening in the 1960s and 1970s, during the Vietnam War.
“To understand equity and racial justice today, we have to look to the past.”
World War I was a fascinating time in U.S. history. It was the first war in which we had a draft, which ultimately led to close to 400,000 Black men serving in the national Army. We have close to a million draft registration cards for every Black man who registered for the first World War I draft. And we’re able to link those individuals and trace their lives by matching those draft cards to other historical details and records.
In World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War, men who registered were essentially randomly picked to serve in the military. That gives us a way of looking at the causal impact of military service on postwar outcomes.
In many cases, the Black men who were drafted were about three times more likely to then take part in the NAACP in the 1920s and 1930s. They’re also about three times more likely to end up being known as prominent civic leaders during this vibrant era of Black collectivism and Black identity. Military service catalyzes civic activism among these men.
During World War I, the military was racially segregated. Black men, even highly educated Black men, were often relegated to roles as menial laborers. They’re often denied many of the training and promotion opportunities that their white counterparts would have been afforded. We find experiences of discrimination—whether Black men were denied officerships or denied training and promotion opportunities. We find that it’s Black men who experienced the most discrimination while serving their country, who were then—after the war—much more likely to take part in the NAACP.
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Desmond Ang is an associate professor of public policy.
Photograph by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe; Portraits by Martha Stewart; Photo illustration by Andrei Cojocaru