What did Black Americans think about the burgeoning war, before America got involved? And it's why I was excited to have a chance to write the book.' When you actually take a step back and understand what the more than a million Black Americans who participated in the war effort, what they did and how vital they were to the war effort.

It made me wonder, What does the war look like from the African American perspective? Once I paused and kind of really got into the research, I was amazed at how much material was there. This is about six or seven years ago, when I started working on this project. 'And it really made me pause and take a step. And I was blown away by how many of these stories I saw. These are just average Americans from Pittsburgh, from Cleveland, from Chicago. But as I was going through archival sources, going through Black newspapers, I kept coming across stories of average Black Americans who were drafted, volunteered to serve in the Army, the Navy and Marines. And I've taught about this history for more than a decade. I'm a professional historian, and I teach history at Dartmouth College. Matthew Delmont: 'I wrote this book because I think this is the history more Americans need to understand. Author of Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad. ( Interview Highlights Matthew Delmont, professor of history at Dartmouth College. Today, On Point: World War II from a Black perspective. 'Should I sacrifice my life to live half American? Is the America I know worth defending?' They fought for a double victory: over fascism and over racism.īut their fight would continue long after the war ended: More than a million Black Americans fought for the United States in World War II.

Half american matthew delmont