Diversity S e pecial
dition
Page 6
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
July 17, 2019
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
A photo from a new traveling exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society called ‘Fighting for the Right to Fight: African American Experiences in World War II,’ shows the
all-black World War II era U.S. Army 41st Engineers, assembled for a color guard ceremony at Ft. Bragg, N.C. Photo courtesy National Archives.
Fighting for the Right to Fight
Downtown exhibit
tells story of African
Americans in WW II
In the years leading up to World War
II, racial segregation and discrimination
were part of the daily life of many in the
United States. For most African Ameri-
cans, even the most basic rights and ser-
vices were fragmented or denied altogeth-
er. To be black was to know the limits of
freedom – excluded from the opportunity,
equality and justice on which the country
was founded.
Yet, once World War II began, thou-
sands of African Americans rushed to en-
list, intent on serving the nation that treat-
ed them as second-class citizens. They
were determined to fight to preserve the
freedom that they themselves had been
denied.
A new traveling exhibit at the Oregon
Historical Society tells the important sto-
ries of the thousands of African Ameri-
cans who enlisted during the war. From
the National WWII Museum in New Or-
leans, “Fighting for the Right to Fight:
African American Experiences in World
War II, opened Friday with a reception
attended by black veterans and officials
of the museum, and runs through Jan. 12.
The exhibit includes oral histories, profile
panels and artifacts.
The centerpiece of the show is an origi-
nal eight minute video about the Tuskegee
Airmen, who in many ways became the
C ontinueD on p age 12