Thomas F. (hardtack) -
History is often whitewashed. Our 'heroes' often are not what we think they are. And neither are we. I grew up in the 50s and 60s and once thought I knew what racism was. But when you read about racism and sexism from just a decade or two before that, it is an entirely different story.
This book is composed of essays from different social historians who show that we didn't always "pitch in and work together" to defeat the Axis. The only one I didn't enjoy reading, if you can call some of the subject matter "enjoyable," was the essay on Native Americans who served in the armed forces or in the war industries. That essay was so esoteric I wondered who the author was trying to impress.
If I told you the police stood by and watched soldiers beat minorities bloody, you would assume it was German policemen watching Nazis attacking Jews. Except this occurred often in Los Angeles.
When grade school girls were checked for lice and nits---due to their minority status---before being allowed to cross the stage to get their diplomas, while other racial groups weren't, you might question where this was taking place.
Even teachers felt it was a waste of time teaching some minorities to read and write when "all they were going to do was pick beets." And the newspapers and authorities fully supported this attitude.
One essay---"Swing Goes to War"--- which discusses American music of the time, especially Glenn Miller's band, and its great effect on morale, also discusses the racism behind the scenes.
Another---"Rosie the Riveter Gets Married"---maintains most women workers during the war held clerical or less important jobs and were always paid less than men doing the same work.
Just as an example, "In 1939, the medium annual income for women was $568 compared to $962 for men, and for black women it was a mere $246."
And black women in the South working as domestics were paid two or three dollars a week. Which is why millions of Afro-Americans left the South during the war to go North or West for much better paying jobs.
"For all the publicity surrounding 'Rosie the Riveter', few women took jobs that were previously held by men..."
While the essays are not always about racism and sexism they do cover those topics in some depth.
One interesting error which caught my attention was one essayist stating the government named battleships after Will Rogers and Carole Lombard. Actually, the Navy did name a submarine after Will Rogers, but that was in the 1960s. However, in 1944 the government did name a liberty ship---a freighter---after Carole Lombard.
This book is composed of essays from different social historians who show that we didn't always "pitch in and work together" to defeat the Axis. The only one I didn't enjoy reading, if you can call some of the subject matter "enjoyable," was the essay on Native Americans who served in the armed forces or in the war industries. That essay was so esoteric I wondered who the author was trying to impress.
If I told you the police stood by and watched soldiers beat minorities bloody, you would assume it was German policemen watching Nazis attacking Jews. Except this occurred often in Los Angeles.
When grade school girls were checked for lice and nits---due to their minority status---before being allowed to cross the stage to get their diplomas, while other racial groups weren't, you might question where this was taking place.
Even teachers felt it was a waste of time teaching some minorities to read and write when "all they were going to do was pick beets." And the newspapers and authorities fully supported this attitude.
One essay---"Swing Goes to War"--- which discusses American music of the time, especially Glenn Miller's band, and its great effect on morale, also discusses the racism behind the scenes.
Another---"Rosie the Riveter Gets Married"---maintains most women workers during the war held clerical or less important jobs and were always paid less than men doing the same work.
Just as an example, "In 1939, the medium annual income for women was $568 compared to $962 for men, and for black women it was a mere $246."
And black women in the South working as domestics were paid two or three dollars a week. Which is why millions of Afro-Americans left the South during the war to go North or West for much better paying jobs.
"For all the publicity surrounding 'Rosie the Riveter', few women took jobs that were previously held by men..."
While the essays are not always about racism and sexism they do cover those topics in some depth.
One interesting error which caught my attention was one essayist stating the government named battleships after Will Rogers and Carole Lombard. Actually, the Navy did name a submarine after Will Rogers, but that was in the 1960s. However, in 1944 the government did name a liberty ship---a freighter---after Carole Lombard.
