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

The persistence of white supremacy in the U.S. means that the nation was not fully victorious in WWII, according to this revelatory history. Highlighting the Pittsburgh Courier’s “Double Victory” campaign, which sought “victory over fascism abroad and victory over racism at home,” Dartmouth history professor Delmont (Black Quotidian) documents the harassment of the 94th Engineer Battalion by white police officers and citizens in Guron, Ark., among other episodes of racial intimidation and violence, and details the role Black newspapers played in warning about the dangers of fascism and celebrating the achievements of African American soldiers. Delmont also profiles the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, an all-volunteer force that fought in “racially integrated units” against Nationalist troops in Spain, and the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of Black pilots who helped capture the Italian islands of Pantelleria and Sicily, only have their combat performance unfairly questioned by their white commander. Throughout, Delmont makes clear how Black soldiers’ experiences stoked their commitment to fighting for racial justice, noting, for instance, how the preferential treatment of German POWs at U.S. military bases revealed that “Jim Crow segregation and the Nazis’ master-race theory were two sides of the same coin.” The result is an eloquent and essential corrective to the historical record. Agent: Michelle Tessler, Tessler Literary. (Oct.)