Segregation In The Military

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Imagine fighting for ones family, country and liberties in a war, but upon coming home, everyone one throws out looks of disgust. Yet, it’s still expected to fight for their freedom. That is how the segregated military units felt. Segregation was a big part of society and it was happening for a long time. In history it has been socially acceptable to have separate divisions in the military. The earliest was back in the Civil War era and it was not until around World War 2 that segregation in the armed forces started to come to a halt, the Hansberry vs. Roosevelt got the public attention to look at segregation in the military, then people started to find other races were being segregated as well, Once people heard about this discrimination people started to have public events to show the government that this was a serious problem. …show more content…
American military fights as one, it was “nevertheless completely segregated, being organized in ’colored units’ that were kept carefully separate from white companies, regiments, and battalions,”(Pershing, John J.) Throughout history there are a lot of examples of racially segregated units in the army. A few of those those units are the 54th Massachusetts, Tuskegee air force, and units in World War 2. The 54th Massachusetts was a full African American unit with a white leader named Robert Gould Shaw. They were formed in two weeks with over 1,000 men (16 and up), after African Americans were allowed to be in the army in February 1863. Before they were shipped out the Governor of Massachusetts, John A. Andrew, said this to the 54th