Half American: The Epic Story of African-Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad

 World War II is most definitely the definitive stereotypical dad history

topic out there, being the subject of countless last minute literary Father’s Day purchases. Operation Overlord? Of course dad needs another historian’s take on that pivotal moment! Yet despite the jokes, World War II is an event of such magnitude that we are visibly living in its wake today, the ripples still washing up on the shores of global society. So much of our modern world, in the realm of geopolitical tensions and economic interdependence especially, originates from the after effects of that global catastrophe, the throughlines being visible when you begin to unravel some of the seemingly complex events currently unfolding. An event of this scale is much like shaking up a snow globe, little nodules swirling around and settling in a new pattern. We have yet to experience another “snow globe shaking” event like it, although it sure does feel like we are headed in the direction of one in my lifetime. 

One fascinating impact of WWII on the domestic United States was the catalyzation of the formal Civil Rights Movement, and Matthew Delmont’s book Half American: The Epic Story of African-Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad clues the reader in as to why the war was an integral part of the timing of said social upheaval. The claim is in no way being made here that the Civil Rights Movement was the only point in time within the context of American history that Black individuals voiced their displeasure with the racial hierarchy of their country, but the period of time that fomented the most amount of societal change since the era of reconstruction did not merely coincidentally succeed World War II. The movement was rather a product of America's involvement in the conflict (amongst other events and processes), causing Black individuals to forcefully oppose their status, as the title implies, as “half Americans” in the eyes of the United States government and population at large. Delmont  does a masterful job of providing a well rounded and easily digestible accounting of the Black experience during the war, both at home and abroad. Coverage within the book ranges from the interesting story of the Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War to the role Black owned media played in setting the narrative regarding the Black experience. He establishes the role the NAACP played as the preeminent civil rights organization of the day, seeking to pull the levers of government to tear down barriers to Black acceptance in the military and wartime industry. Stories he included about the power-keg nature of various industrial centers demonstrate just how contentious the hiring of Black workers truly was, particularly in northern cities like Detroit. Delmont provides an unflinchingly honest accounting of the Black experience, striking a balance between sanitized and revisionist history. 

One of the best stories told within the book occurs in chapter six, detailing the heroic actions of Mess Attendant Second Class Doris “Dorie” Miller. Miller was a naval cook stationed in Hawaii on the morning of December 7th, 1941. The surprise attack at the hands of the Japanese dealt a devastating blow to the United States naval forces present at Pearl Harbor, causing mass chaos as the bombs were unleashed. Naval policy (and much of US military policy in general) did not permit Black individuals to serve in combat roles, which makes the actions of Dorie Miller all the more impressive. Aside from saving the life of his ship’s captain, Miller manned a .50-caliber anti aircraft gun, successfully picking off a Japanese plane, despite having no formal training with the weapon. In the following weeks, Black newspapers and the NAACP pushed for the recognition of his valiant efforts, advocating that he be awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. Five months following the “day of infamy”, Miller did indeed receive his well deserved recognition, demonstrating the heroic actions of a Black
American in an unprecedented crisis. The act was further immortalized via a poster published by the U.S. Government Printing Office in 1943, being the first Black soldier depicted in a propaganda poster during the war. Exactly two years to the day after Pearl Harbor, Miller’s parents received notice that their son was missing and presumed dead, his ship having been hit by a Japanese torpedo. The body of the slain cook was never recovered. 

There are so many avenues one can take in studying World War II, the impact on American race relations being a single snapshot of the event. The importance the conflict served in sparking the Civil Rights Movement can be lost in the shuffle of countless precipitating events in the decades leading up to it, but the war should not be discounted in its importance to that landmark moment in United States history. Half American takes your knowledge of the era in a new direction, adding another facet to the ultimate dad history subject.