Winston Churchill’s “V” for victory sign became a ubiquitous symbol of the unified approach that political leaders as well as regular people took toward the war. In this photograph taken in 1942, a group of Tacoma, Washington, teenagers display the victory sign.

In January 1942, James G. Thompson, wrote a letter to the African American newspaper The Pittsburgh Courier in which he reflected upon the dilemma that he and other black people faced as they contemplated what their role in the Second World War would be:

Being an American of dark complexion and some 26 years, these questions flash through my mind: Should I sacrifice my life to live half American? Will things be better for the next generation in the peace to follow? Would it be demanding too much to demand full citizenship rights in exchange for the sacrificing of my life? Is the kind of America I know worth defending? Will America be a true and pure democracy after the war? Will Colored Americans suffer still the indignities that have been heaped upon them in the past? These and other questions need answering; I want to know, and I believe every colored American, who is thinking, wants to know…

The V for victory sign is being displayed prominently in all so–called democratic countries which are fighting for victory over aggression, slavery, and tyranny. If this V sign means that to those now engaged in this great conflict, then let we colored Americans adopt the double V V for a double victory. The first V for victory over our enemies from without, the second V for victory over our enemies from within. For surely those who perpetrate these ugly prejudices here are seeking to destroy our democratic form of government just as surely as the Axis forces.¹ 

Footnote 1. James G. Thompson, January 31, 1942 letter to The Pittsburgh Courier quoted by Sharon Shahid, Newseum senior writer in “Power of the Black Press” Newseum.org, retrieved March 20, 2009.

In response to James Thompson’s letter, The Pittsburgh Courier published the above logo, without explanation, in early February 1942. The next week the paper reported:

Last week, without any public announcement or fanfare, the editors of “The Courier” introduced its war slogan—;double “V” for a double victory to colored America. We did this advisedly because we wanted to test the response and popularity of such a slogan with our readers. The response has been overwhelming. Our office has been inundated with hundreds of telegrams and letters of congratulations, proving that without any explanation, this slogan represents the true battle cry of colored America. … Americans all, are involved in a gigantic war effort to assure the victory for the cause of freedom–the four freedoms that have been so nobly expressed by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill….therefore we have adopted the Double “V” war cry–victory over…our enslavers at home and those abroad who would enslave us. WE HAVE A STAKE IN THIS FIGHT….WE ARE AMERICANS TOO!²

Footnote 2. Quoted in William F. Yurasko, “The Pittsburgh Courier during World War II, an Advocate for Freedom, VV campaign.org Website, retrieved May 19, 2009.

The vocal group, The Ink Spots, perform the song “Yankee Doodle Tan.” Note the “Double V” illustration which dominates the cover of the sheet music, and the victory sign displayed by several of the singers.

The Pittsburgh Courier aggressively promoted its “Double V” campaign. Historian Patrick Washburn describes the pervasiveness of the “Double V” in his interview for the PBS documentary The Black Press: Soldiers without Swords:

Ah, it caught on to the—;to the extent that 200,000 blacks, ah, black people signed up for this thing by the summer of 1942, each one of ’em payin’ The Pittsburgh Courier a nickel to belong to these Double V clubs, and you had women walking around with Double V’s on their dresses. You had a new hairstyle called the Doubler where black women would walk around in weave two—;two V’s in their hair. You had Double V baseball games, Double V flag–waving ceremonies, Double V gardens. I mean it’s just Double V this, Double V this, Double V this. And The Pittsburgh Courier, which was looking for circulation, played this to the hilt…one–seventh of that newspaper, of their available space was the Double V and they played it to the hilt…There was even a Double V song. 

Charles Alston created “BACKING THE ATTACK ON ALL FRONTS!!!” for the Office of War Information in 1943.

World War II dominated every aspect of American life. The war determined what an individual purchased, ate, saved, and donated. It oftentimes influenced where one worked and how one spent his or her free time. Charles Alston’s illustration for “National Negro Newspaper Week” shows figures who represent the African American contribution to the agricultural, industrial, and military war fronts. As these advancing figures literally tear through the front page of the newspaper, Alston seems to promise that the “Negro Press” is the vehicle through which black Americans will not only help to “win the war”, but will also “plan the peace,” a peace that would no doubt include African American civil rights.

The above view of the Shell Road and Biloxi light house, Biloxi, Mississippi was photographed around 1901. During World War II, Ray received a part of his military training at a base in Biloxi, Mississippi. One day, despite prior warning, he accidentally drifted, alone, into Biloxi’s white community and was confronted by a white man. When Ray responded “I’m from God’s country” [meaning the north] to the man’s derogatory question “Where you from, boy?” the crowd gathered around the two men was likely shocked. As a black man visiting from the north, Ray did not fully understand the reality of the unspoken but socially embedded rules that determined how black people and white people living in the south interacted with one another. Ray could not have known what Melba Pattillo Beals, a native of the south and one of the Little Rock Nine who integrated that city’s Central High School in 1957, had experienced all of her life. She recalls of her girlhood:

With the passage of time, I became increasingly aware of how all of the adults around me behaved the same. They were living with constant fear and apprehension. It felt as though we always had a white foot pressed against the back of our necks. I was feeling more and more vulnerable as I watched them continually struggle to solve the mystery of what white folks expected of them. They behaved as though it were an awful sin to overlook even one of those unspoken rules and step out of “their place,” to cross some invisible line. And yet lots of discussions in my household were about how to cross that line, when to cross that line, and who could cross that line without getting hurt.³

Footnote 3. Melba Pattillo Beals, Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High (New York: Washington Square Press), 1994, 13–14.

This cartoon, “DECEMBER 7th—;REMEMBER!!” was created in 1943 by Charles Alston, an African American artist employed by the Office of War Information.

Dorie Miller was a Mess Attendant assigned to the USS West Virginia, stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941. When his ship was attacked on December 7th, he helped to rescue fellow sailors and, despite not having been trained to do so, fired an anti–aircraft machine gun at the Japanese planes which eventually sunk the USS West Virginia. Admiral Nimitz, presenting Dorrie Miller the Navy Cross in May 1942, remarked, “This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I’m sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts”.

When Ray Elliott learned that he would be stationed in Hawaii, he looked forward to the assignment with a sense of optimism: “we had dreams all our lives of Hawaii, people look like me and there we’d be accepted with very little discrimination.” The reality of the experience, however, did not match the expectations of Ray and his friends, nor did it conform to the heroic story showcased in the above illustration of Dorrie Miller. Many servicemen described the social conditions they found in Hawaii. One man wrote, “As you know most sailors are from Texas and the South. They are most[ly] Navy men here, and they have surely poisoned everyone against the Negroes, with tales of Negroes carrying dreadful diseases, being thieves, murders and downright no good.”⁴  Ray left the island believing that “racism followed the flag.”

Footnote 4. Farber, David. “The Double–V” campaign in World War II Hawaii: African Americans, racial ideology, and federal power,” The Free Library 22 June 1993. Referenced 18 March 2009.