Excerpt from "Alexander J. Allen"

Reprinted from The Homefront: America during World War II.

Published in 1984.

"I felt then, and still feel, that the future of American blacks is in this country, and that our destiny is bound up with the destiny of the rest of the U.S.…"

In this excerpt, Alexander J. Allen recalls that during the war years black Americans hoped for considerable progress in their fight to end racial discrimination on the home front. After all, part of the reason the United States joined the Allied war effort was to promote democratic ideals and stop the spread of fascism. (Fascism is a political movement led by a dictator. Support for a fascist dictator is commonly driven by a fanatical support of one's nation and...