7 ms·

The US was also 90% white at the time [1], so one shouldn't be surprised murals would be "predominantly white", even if it wasn't for segregation. [1] https://

The US was also 90% white at the time [1], so one shouldn't be surprised murals would be "predominantly white", even if it wasn't for segregation. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_Sta...

emerged 6y ago
Also, black soldiers were significantly less than the population percentage. Even if racism is to blame, the fact is the overwhelming majority of US soldiers were white.
- rbecker 6y ago
  Were they? The wikipedia page is full of [citation needed] around the numbers, so I'm having trouble confirming this.
  - emerged 6y ago
    I'm seeing mixed information too, now that I've started looking deeper. I suppose it was a tangential point in the first place, but now I'm really curious.
    - 082349872349872 6y ago
      inductions (rough parity): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_the_US_armed_forces_during_World_War_II#One_million_African-American_inductions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_the_US_ar... enlistments (far below): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_the_US_armed_forces_during_World_War_II#African_American_enlistments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_the_US_ar... The WP text seems to quote the following directly: https://history.army.mil/documents/wwii/minst.htm https://history.army.mil/documents/wwii/minst.htm > "The reasons why relatively few Negroes enlisted during World war II were numerous. The principal one, however, was the severe restrictions placed against Negro enlistments by the armed forces, which, in some periods, amounted to complete prohibition."
rbecker 6y ago
Perhaps more relevant than overall US demographics, would be ones for Rhode Island specifically: in 1950, it was 98.1% white, and 1.8% black: https://web.archive.org/web/20100327163842/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/tab54.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20100327163842/http://www.census...

emerged 6y ago

Also, black soldiers were significantly less than the population percentage. Even if racism is to blame, the fact is the overwhelming majority of US soldiers were white.

rbecker 6y ago
Were they? The wikipedia page is full of [citation needed] around the numbers, so I'm having trouble confirming this.
- emerged 6y ago
  I'm seeing mixed information too, now that I've started looking deeper. I suppose it was a tangential point in the first place, but now I'm really curious.
  - 082349872349872 6y ago
    inductions (rough parity): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_the_US_armed_forces_during_World_War_II#One_million_African-American_inductions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_the_US_ar... enlistments (far below): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_the_US_armed_forces_during_World_War_II#African_American_enlistments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_the_US_ar... The WP text seems to quote the following directly: https://history.army.mil/documents/wwii/minst.htm https://history.army.mil/documents/wwii/minst.htm > "The reasons why relatively few Negroes enlisted during World war II were numerous. The principal one, however, was the severe restrictions placed against Negro enlistments by the armed forces, which, in some periods, amounted to complete prohibition."

rbecker 6y ago

Perhaps more relevant than overall US demographics, would be ones for Rhode Island specifically: in 1950, it was 98.1% white, and 1.8% black: https://web.archive.org/web/20100327163842/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/tab54.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20100327163842/http://www.census...