African American Soldiers during the Wars of the Late 19th and 20th Century - Essay Example

In addition, black political leaders used this war to sacrifice their race in return for the achievement of greater civil rights. Moreover, there were other contributions of the African American soldiers. During World War I, the newly formed NAACP by black and whites, and other several organizations fought for the end of discrimination and segregation in the United States.  The NAACP also worked tirelessly to destroy segregation through the courts and pursued voting rights to ensure black people had rights as other Americans.

During World War II, the military still maintained a racially segregated force with black soldiers classified as unfit for war and not allowed on the front lines, handling support duties and not allowed in white soldiers' units. However, black soldiers still contributed to the war with black pilots joining the Air Force and in 200 missions never losing a bomber to enemy fire. This contributed to the integration of the black and white military in America before the Vietnam War of the 1960s onwards and black soldiers were on the front lines making an impact.

Furthermore, after the Vietnam War, there has been an increase in black soldiers in the American military with more than 2.5 million African Americans in the military. This highlights the significance of the contributions of African American soldiers in World War II from being soldiers who were not acknowledged as part of the American military for being the best Air Force pilots.

To conclude, although there have been many struggles in the American military during WWI and WWII that include military segregation of African American soldiers, the two world wars are seen to have given them a voice to be reckoned with as a part of the American people who are entitled to civil rights just as any other Americans.