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The Black American Press: The Intersection of Race, Democracy, and War; 1914 - 1919

Van Nest, Austin R
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1648554129984268

Abstract Details

2022, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, History.
By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Black Americans were restrained from enjoying democratic principles. Black American editorials combatted these discriminations by exaggerating France as an egalitarian nation that provided principles of equality, liberty and fraternity to its colonial subjects. Often, Black journalists contrasted the experiences of Africans in the French army with Black Americans’ inequalities. While Great Britain and Germany willingly deployed African troops in Africa, they refused to use Africans on the European continent, but France was different. The incorporation of French Africans into the French army compensated for its declining birth rate at World War I's outbreak by providing essential manpower for the war effort. As a result, journalists displayed France as appearing to provide egalitarian principles to its African soldiers. However, it was not to show the appearance of social advancement but rather to create a haze of social equality that hid France's cultural and biological racism. This paper addresses how the Black press interpreted the incorporation of French African colonial subjects into the French army in 1914 - 1915 and how these perceptions redefined American racism, equality, white supremacy, and American democracy. Black journalists used the appearance of social advancement for French Africans serving in the French army to initially display the differences between French and American society. As a result, editors noted the shifting mentality of Black American communities from various parts of the United States and how it impacted their perception of American society. Journalists were biased in their approach, understanding that they influenced the reader's interpretation through written or visual imagery by shaping how Black Americans interpreted the world around them. As the war raged on, they saw the war as an opportunity to criticize American democracy, demonstrate the inequalities experienced within a "white" American society, and gain civil rights.
Douglas Forsyth, PhD (Advisor)
Nicole Jackson, PhD (Committee Member)
Richard Fogarty, PhD (Committee Member)
115 p.
African Americans; African History; American History; European History; History; Military History; Modern History
History; African Americans; Black Americans; Civil Rights; Egalitarianism; Africans; French Africans; World War I; The United States; France; The Black Press; Racism; American Racism; French Racism; Robert Abbott; Christopher Perry; John Murphy; Allyson Sweeny; Woodrow Wilson; American Democracy; French Republic; Empire; Colonialism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Van Nest, A. R. (2022). The Black American Press: The Intersection of Race, Democracy, and War; 1914 - 1919 [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1648554129984268

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Van Nest, Austin. The Black American Press: The Intersection of Race, Democracy, and War; 1914 - 1919. 2022. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1648554129984268.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Van Nest, Austin. "The Black American Press: The Intersection of Race, Democracy, and War; 1914 - 1919." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1648554129984268

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1648554129984268
397
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This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.