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We Return Fighting: World War I and the Shaping of Modern Black Identity
A richly illustrated commemoration of African Americans' roles in World War I highlighting how the wartime experience reshaped their lives and their communities after they returned home.
This stunning book presents artifacts, medals, and photographs alongside powerful essays that together highlight the efforts of African Americans during World War I. As in many previous wars, black soldiers served the United States during the war, but they were assigned to segregated units and often relegated to labor and support duties rather than direct combat. Indeed this was the central paradox of the war: these men and women fought abroad to secure rights they did not yet have at home in the States. Black veterans' work during the conflict--and the respect they received from French allies but not their own US military--empowered them to return home and continue the fight for those rights. The book also presents the work of black citizens on the home front. Together their efforts laid the groundwork for later advances in the civil rights movement.
We Return Fighting reminds readers not only of the central role of African American soldiers in the war that first made their country a world power. It also reveals the way the conflict shaped African American identity and lent fuel to their longstanding efforts to demand full civil rights and to stake their place in the country's cultural and political landscape.
This stunning book presents artifacts, medals, and photographs alongside powerful essays that together highlight the efforts of African Americans during World War I. As in many previous wars, black soldiers served the United States during the war, but they were assigned to segregated units and often relegated to labor and support duties rather than direct combat. Indeed this was the central paradox of the war: these men and women fought abroad to secure rights they did not yet have at home in the States. Black veterans' work during the conflict--and the respect they received from French allies but not their own US military--empowered them to return home and continue the fight for those rights. The book also presents the work of black citizens on the home front. Together their efforts laid the groundwork for later advances in the civil rights movement.
We Return Fighting reminds readers not only of the central role of African American soldiers in the war that first made their country a world power. It also reveals the way the conflict shaped African American identity and lent fuel to their longstanding efforts to demand full civil rights and to stake their place in the country's cultural and political landscape.
160 pages, Hardcover
Published November 5, 2019
11 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 3, 2021
A sweeping history of the African American experience shortly before, during, and after WWI. Full of anecdotes, photos and studies of the major people and events of the time, this book provides an excellent primer on a moment of time in African American history and how that moment resonates to today. It is also gorgeously put together and fascinating just to leaf through for the images.
June 3, 2021
Eerie- difficult to put it down.
August 22, 2020
I thought the book was well written, researched and presented. The vivid photography and visualizations added to the collections appeal. I feel like the book captured the Black experience during wartime very well.
This book is what i would term a portal book in that it gives a great deal of information and detail at a surface level and leaves you wanting to explore the embedded topics at a deeper level. This book embraced this approach and left a healthy list of books to explore at the end of the book.
On the downside, I came in expecting much more of the post World War I Black experience and I believe the book fell short in this area. I expected the book to expand on the turbulent and violent times specifically the riots and the lynchings.
Overall, this is a good book and I would recommend reading it however this isn’t a book I would read again.
This book is what i would term a portal book in that it gives a great deal of information and detail at a surface level and leaves you wanting to explore the embedded topics at a deeper level. This book embraced this approach and left a healthy list of books to explore at the end of the book.
On the downside, I came in expecting much more of the post World War I Black experience and I believe the book fell short in this area. I expected the book to expand on the turbulent and violent times specifically the riots and the lynchings.
Overall, this is a good book and I would recommend reading it however this isn’t a book I would read again.
March 2, 2020
This book was pretty interesting. It covers a period of American history that I don't know too much about, especially in African American history. On the whole, it felt almost more like a well-interpreted museum exhibit than a book (which makes sense, I guess) in a pretty cool way. The one thing is, the different chapters are by different authors and they do kind of end up repeating some stuff. Also, there was rather more coverage of the Civil War to WWI history and rather less coverage of the post-WWI history than I was expecting. Overall, though, it was interesting and I really appreciated all the photos and objects.
September 30, 2021
I received an ARC of this title from School Library Journal in exchange for a fair and honest review.
While the United States was only involved in World War I for about nineteen months, those months proved to be a pivotal time for African American soldiers and America as a whole. African Americans have fought in every war fought by America, but World War I fundamentally changed how African Americans viewed their position in American society. We return fighting epitomizes how African Americans continued their struggle for equal rights after the Civil War while participating in wars where their sacrifices were marginalized and unrecognized. Segregation in the U.S. Army continued as troops were deployed across the sea; however, the four African American units of the 93rd Infantry Division were placed under French command and were treated as equals and comrades by the French forces. Encountering racial equality in France during World War I encouraged a generation of African Americans to come home and fight for the same treatment in the United States. The reality of observing racial equality in action emphasized the great cultural chasm that still existed in post-Reconstruction America. After the war, gold star mothers, women who had lost children to military service, were still being segregated by the United States government. The paradox of fighting abroad for rights that were not received at home was not lost on the African American troops or their families. Using photographs, images of objects, and medals, the National Museum of African American History & Culture has created a rich compilation of visual sources to accompany a masterful presentation of an extremely important part of American history that needs to be voiced. A must purchase.
While the United States was only involved in World War I for about nineteen months, those months proved to be a pivotal time for African American soldiers and America as a whole. African Americans have fought in every war fought by America, but World War I fundamentally changed how African Americans viewed their position in American society. We return fighting epitomizes how African Americans continued their struggle for equal rights after the Civil War while participating in wars where their sacrifices were marginalized and unrecognized. Segregation in the U.S. Army continued as troops were deployed across the sea; however, the four African American units of the 93rd Infantry Division were placed under French command and were treated as equals and comrades by the French forces. Encountering racial equality in France during World War I encouraged a generation of African Americans to come home and fight for the same treatment in the United States. The reality of observing racial equality in action emphasized the great cultural chasm that still existed in post-Reconstruction America. After the war, gold star mothers, women who had lost children to military service, were still being segregated by the United States government. The paradox of fighting abroad for rights that were not received at home was not lost on the African American troops or their families. Using photographs, images of objects, and medals, the National Museum of African American History & Culture has created a rich compilation of visual sources to accompany a masterful presentation of an extremely important part of American history that needs to be voiced. A must purchase.
October 12, 2022
Profiles in courage of African American soldiers fighting in battles. Yes, this is about their work in World War I but it's also about what came before it and after it on the battlefield and within the culture of the United States (and France specifically is a highly centralized piece of it). Discrimination and intimidation but also a celebration of the accomplishments, medals, and valor that goes largely unrecognized.
Using a lot of pictures and a foldout, it's not something that will slink away in history as Conwill, as editor, recruited many voices to be the voices for those that were voiceless in their struggles for the United States.
Using a lot of pictures and a foldout, it's not something that will slink away in history as Conwill, as editor, recruited many voices to be the voices for those that were voiceless in their struggles for the United States.
January 2, 2021
While I enjoyed reading We Return Fighting, I was disappointed by the section written by Jay Winter 'Global War'. He oversimplified the world and added information that wasn't necessary. It was also unfortunate that the picture on page 78 is clearly mislabeled. It is easy to see that it is wood and not iron being unloaded for the ship.
November 13, 2023
There is a lot packed into this fairly short book. It has some wonderful photographs throughout the book. I was looking for a book about African American solders sent to fight in WW1 and this delivered. That being said, I do think it's a primer for more exploration but it is a great place to start for a general overview. I think this could make a great companion to history curriculum in schools.
March 12, 2021
A book purchased as research for my daughter's A-level history that turns out to be really interesting. It accompanied an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture so it's full of amazing pictures and archive items.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews