Jheaya Conwell History 1152 The Returning Soldiers of World War I The excerpt, Returning Soldiers, was written by W.E.B. Du Bois. Also known as William Edward Burghardt Du Bois born February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Returning Soldiers was written because, he felt like everyone should have known how the African American soldiers were treated after they had just came home from fighting for their country. W.E.B Du Bois identified himself as a “mulatto” in school. He was strongly supported by his white teachers in academics and, went to school with whites. Du Bois later attended Fisk University in 1885, when he moved to Nashville Tennessee. While he was there, he began to study deeply into troubles of American racism and this is where he first experienced Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow law enforced …show more content…
Over 350,000 African American soldiers were discriminated against, and out in segregated units during WWI. Though a lot of black units served alongside the French and British soldiers, many were supporters way behind the front lines. There was a General named, John J Pershing who basically influenced the discrimination amongst the black and white soldiers. In summary, he told the white soldiers that they weren't allowed to communicate and/or function with the blacks unless it was under military service.To be exact, 171 African American soldiers for valor under fire, were awarded the French Legion of Honor. Although a lot of people disagreed with the discrimination towards the black soldiers and sailors, there was nothing they could do except talk about it. Eventually the problem became bigger and protest began. The uprise of protest were beneficial because, African Americans later received officers’ training. Even though they were not aloud to supervise white troops, by October 1917, 600 African Americans were commissioned as