On May 18, 1917, Congress passed the Selective Service Act requiring all males between the ages of 21 to age 31 to register for the draft. Many didn 't want to have to register but for the African American males, they thought this would be a great chance to prove themselves to gain equal treatment. They thought if they showed how loyal they were to the US that mistreatment and segregation would change. From the very start the African Americans were still segregated. When they filled out their draft cards they were told to tear off a corner of the card. This was because the whites needed a way to identify who the blacks were. Racism was so bad in the south that sometimes post office employees would not turn in some of the blacks draft cards and then helped the officials arrest them for trying to avoid the draft. …show more content…
However, most blacks never got to serve in combat units and most were limited to the labor battalions. The Marines wouldn 't let African Americans serve at all. The Navy and Coast Guard did but they gave them the lowest jobs they could. The 9th and 10th Calvary and the 24th and 25th Infantry were the first all-black regiments but they were only used in the US and were not used in combat roles overseas. They were so frustrated because they were good fighters and they felt like they may never get a chance to prove themselves. After a lot of complaining about the treatment of the blacks, the War Department created the 92d and 93d Divisions and they were finally used in combat. They finally got to go overseas and fight for their country. After that, African Americans started being trained to be officers and were put in charge of the all black