June 1917

When the Selective Service Act was signed in 1917, approximately 2.3 million Black men registered for the draft, and roughly 370,000-470,000 were inducted — about 13% of all draftees, roughly proportional to the Black share of the population. They were required to fight for a country that denied them the vote, subjected them to mob violence, and legally segregated them from white citizens. The contradiction between fighting for democracy abroad while being denied it at home was explicitly argued in Black newspapers and became the basis for postwar civil rights demands.

After the Espionage Act passed in June 1917, Postmaster General Albert Burleson threatened to revoke mailing privileges from Black newspapers whose content the government deemed harmful to military recruitment or morale. The Messenger, edited by A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen, was denied mailing privileges in 1918 for opposing the draft. The Crisis was investigated for its 'Returning Soldiers' editorial. The campaign constituted an attempt to suppress Black civil rights advocacy through wartime legislation.

Despite experiencing systematic exclusion from American democracy, Black Americans purchased an estimated $250 million in Liberty Bonds during WWI, demonstrating patriotic investment in a nation that denied them basic rights. Black newspapers used this as a rhetorical argument for civil rights — the 'Double V' concept, victory abroad and victory at home, was explicitly articulated. The government accepted this financial support while refusing any civil rights concessions, a pattern of extracting Black contributions while denying Black citizenship that characterized the entire twentieth century.

Despite systematic exclusion from American democracy, Black Americans purchased an estimated $250 million in Liberty Bonds during WWI. Black newspapers used this as a rhetorical argument for civil rights, explicitly articulating the 'Double V' concept of victory abroad and victory at home. The government accepted this financial support while refusing any civil rights concessions, a pattern of extracting Black contributions while denying Black citizenship.

Colonel Charles Young was the highest-ranking Black officer in the US Army and third Black graduate of West Point. In 1917, with WWI expanding the Army, Young was next in line for promotion to Brigadier General, which would have made him the first Black general officer. The Army's solution: declare him medically unfit for duty due to hypertension. To prove his fitness, Young rode 497 miles on horseback from Ohio to Washington DC. The Army retired him anyway. He was briefly recalled at the end of the war. Young died in 1922 in Nigeria while on a military mission.

Colonel Charles Young, the highest-ranking Black officer in the US Army and third Black West Point graduate, was next in line for promotion to Brigadier General in 1917. The Army declared him medically unfit. To prove his fitness, Young rode 497 miles on horseback from Ohio to Washington DC. The Army retired him anyway, ensuring no Black general officer would serve in WWI.