MAVRC Book Club discussion
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Virtual Event: “We Return Fighting”: African Americans, the Military, and Civil Rights
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Time: 12:00PM
Location: Virtual - Zoom
Register Here: https://siue.zoom.us/webinar/register...
This year during the spring and fall semester, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is hosting a series of events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of military integration through the passage of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 and President Harry S. Truman signing of Executive Order 9981.
The passage of Executive Order 9981 did not immediately deliver the promise of racial desegregation, as its weak enforcement allowed racist policies to continue in the armed forces several years after President Truman’s signing. Since the arrival of African slaves, African Americans have sacrificed their lives and body for the defense of this nation that for centuries brutally denied their basic human and civil rights. The fight for these rights were at forefront of African Americans’ military service, and the struggles they encountered were just as dangerous as the enemies they faced abroad.
To reflect on the sacrifices black servicemembers have made for their country and their race, Dr. Bryan Jack will be joining the Military and Veteran Services to explore the connection between African American military service and the fight for civil rights in American society in his presentation “We Return Fighting”: African Americans, the Military, and Civil Rights.
Dr. Bryan is professor in the SIUE Department of History and has been with the university since 2010. Dr. Jack’s research is primarily focused on African American history since 1865, the history of St. Louis and the American South.
This event is free and open to the public.