page_title: Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces
section_title: African-Americans
hierarchical_section_title: Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces / United States Army / World War I / African-Americans
caption_attribution_description: English: Stoddard King (1889–1933)
context_page_description: Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces, which has included separation of white and non-white American troops, quotas, restriction of people of color troops to support roles, and outright bans on blacks and other people of color serving in the military, has been a part of the military history of the United States since the American Revolution. Each branch of the Armed Forces has historically had different policies regarding racial segregation. Although Executive Order 9981 officially ended segregation in the Armed Forces in 1948, following World War II, some forms of racial segregation continued until after the Korean War. The US government complied with an Icelandic government request not to station black soldiers on the US base in Keflavík, Iceland until the 1970s and 1980s when black soldiers began to be stationed in Iceland.
context_section_description: The American military was entirely segregated for African Americans during World War I. Although the military training of black Americans was  opposed by white supremacist politicians such as Sen. James K. Vardaman (D-Mississippi) and Sen. Benjamin Tillman (D-South Carolina), the decision was  made to include African-Americans in the 1917 draft. A total of 290,527 black Americans were ultimately registered for the draft.
  Draft board officials were instructed to tear off the lower left corner of the Selective Service forms filled out by black registrants to mark these for segregated units. The August 1917 Houston Riot of armed African-American soldiers spurred by racist behavior by some Houston police officials additionally shaped the War Department's decision-making, and the great majority of black soldiers were assigned jobs like the building of roads, unloading of shipping, and other forms of common labor.  Two combat units of African-Americans were  established: the 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions. Including volunteers, 350,000 African-Americans served in the American Expeditionary Force on the western front. One combat unit,  the 369th Infantry "Hell Fighters from Harlem" were awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French allies for their bravery and competence in combat.
caption: WWI draft card.  Lower left corner to be removed by men of African background to help keep military segregated
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