Torchbearers of democracy [electronic resource] : African American soldiers in the World War I era / Chad L. Williams.
2010
D639.N4 W497 2010eb
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Title
Torchbearers of democracy [electronic resource] : African American soldiers in the World War I era / Chad L. Williams.
Author
Williams, Chad Louis, 1976-
ISBN
9780807899359 (electronic book)
9780807833940
9780807833940
Imprint
Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, c2010.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (xiii, 452 p.) : ill.
Call Number
D639.N4 W497 2010eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
940.4/03
Summary
On April 2, 1917, Woodrow Wilson thrust the United States into World War I by declaring, "The world must be made safe for democracy." For the 380,000 African American soldiers who fought and labored in the global conflict, these words carried life or death meaning. Relating stories bridging the war and postwar years, spanning the streets of Chicago and the streets of Harlem, from the battlefields of the American South to the battlefields of the Western Front, the speaker reveals the central role of African American soldiers in World War I and how they, along with race activists and ordinary citizens alike, committed to fighting for democracy at home and beyond. Using a diverse range of sources, the author connects the history of African American soldiers and veterans to issues such as the obligations of citizenship, combat and labor, diaspora and internationalism, homecoming and racial violence, "New Negro" militancy, and African American historical memories of the war. Democracy may have been distant from the everyday lives of African Americans at the dawn of the war, but it nevertheless remained a powerful ideal that sparked the hopes of black people throughout the country for societal change. Torchbearers of democracy reclaims the legacy of black soldiers and establishes the World War I era as a defining moment in the history of African Americans and peoples of African descent more broadly.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
Series
John Hope Franklin series in African American history and culture.
Available in Other Form
Torchbearers of democracy.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: War. Democracy at war : African Americans, citizenship, and the meanings of military service ; The "race question" : the U.S. government and the training experiences of African American soldiers ; The hell of war : African American soldiers in labor and combat ; Les soldats noir : France, Black military service, and the challenges of internationalism and diaspora
Part II: Peace? Waging peace : the end of the war and the hope of democracy ; The war at home : African American veterans and violence in the long "red summer" ; Soldiers to "new Negroes" : African American veterans and postwar racial militancy ; Lest we forget : the war and African American soldiers in history and memory
Epilogue.
Part I: War. Democracy at war : African Americans, citizenship, and the meanings of military service ; The "race question" : the U.S. government and the training experiences of African American soldiers ; The hell of war : African American soldiers in labor and combat ; Les soldats noir : France, Black military service, and the challenges of internationalism and diaspora
Part II: Peace? Waging peace : the end of the war and the hope of democracy ; The war at home : African American veterans and violence in the long "red summer" ; Soldiers to "new Negroes" : African American veterans and postwar racial militancy ; Lest we forget : the war and African American soldiers in history and memory
Epilogue.