Loyalty in Time of Trial: The African American Experience During World War I

Nina Mjagikj's book opens during the Jim Crow-era when African Americans were no longer slaves, but still second-class citizens. The roots of the civil rights movement blossomed during this time. As the war in Europe raged, the US mobilized its military in preparation for possible service in Europe. Leaders in the US military believed that African Americans did not have the mental capacity to serve in front-line combat units and were assigned to labor battalions, or as stevedores. In France, African American soldiers were not looked down on by the local population, as opposed to the degradations heaped upon them by their fellow American white soldiers. As a result many soldiers did not want to return to Jim Crow America. During this time, leaders like W.E.B. Du Bois, Emmett J. Scott, and James Weldon Johnson emerged as voices for equal rights. It would be nearly 30 years before the military was desegregated, and nearly 50 before civil rights were granted. Mjagikj's book is eye-opening with regard to the lives of African Americans who were willing to serve shoulder-to-shoulder for their country, but thwarted by the conventions of the time. (Apr.)