Black WWII Veterans were Denied the G.I. Bill

Our Way Black History Fact covers how Black servicemen returning from WWII were systematically denied their benefits from the G.I Bill.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right now, it is time for the way Black History Fact.
In today's way Black History Fact comes from history dot Com.
I'll share a bit. When Eugene Burnett saw the neat
tracked houses of Levittown, New York, he knew he wanted
to buy one. It was nineteen forty nine, and he
was ready to settle down in a larger home with
his family. The newly established Long Island suburbs seemed like

(00:21):
the perfect place to begin their postwar life, one that
he hoped would be improved with the help of the
GI Bill, a piece of sweeping legislation aimed at helping
World War Two veterans like Burnett prosper after the war.
But when he spoke with the salesman about buying the
house using a GI Bill guaranteed mortgage, the door to
suburban life and Levintown slam firmly in his face. The

(00:41):
suburb wasn't open to black residents. The Burnetts weren't the
only Black Americans for whom the promise of the GI
Bill turned out to be an illusion. Though the bill
helped white Americans prosper and accumulate wealth in the post
war years, it didn't deliver on that promise for veterans
of color. In fact, the wide disparity in the bill's
implementation ended up helping drive growing gaps in wealth, education,

(01:03):
and civil rights between white and Black Americans. While the
GI Bill's language did not specifically exclude African American veterans
from its benefits, it was structured in a way that
ultimately shut the doors for the one point two million
black veterans who had bravely served their country during World
War II and segregated ranks. Again, I want to share
that this is from History dot com, not Ramses dot com,
not Q dot com, not CIVI exci fort a, History

(01:25):
dot com. Right, let me continue. When lawmakers began drafting
the GI Bill in nineteen forty four, some Southern Democrats
feared that returning black veterans would use public sympathy for
veterans to advocate against Jim Crow laws. To make sure
the GI Bill largely benefited white people, Southern Democrats drew
on tactics they had previously used to ensure that the

(01:46):
new deal helped as few black people as possible. From
the start, black veterans had trouble securing the GI bills
benefits veterans who did qualify could not find facilities that
delivered on the bill's promise. Black veterans in a vocational
training program at segregated high school in Indianapolis were unable
to participate in activities related to plumbing, electricity, and printing

(02:06):
because inadequate equipment was only available to white students. Simple
intimidation kept others from enjoying Gibill benefits. In nineteen forty seven,
for example, a crowd hurled rocks at black veterans as
they moved into a Chicago housing development. Thousands of black
veterans were attacked in the years following World War Two,
and some were singled out and lynched. Though Mississippi Congressman
John rankin Hart had lost the battle to exclude black

(02:29):
men from BA unemployment insurance, it was doled out inequitably.
Most men who applied for unemployment benefits were kicked out
of the program if any other work was available to them,
even work that provided less than subsistence wages. Southern postmasters
were even accused of refusing to deliver the forms to
black veterans needed to fill out to receive their unemployment benefits.
Black veterans and civil rights groups protested their treatment, calling

(02:51):
for protections like the black involvement in the VA and
non discriminatory loans, But racial disparities in the implementation of
the GIBA had already been set into motion. As years
went on, white veterans flowed into newly created suburbs, where
they began amassing wealth and skilled positions, but black veterans
lacked those options. The majority of skilled jobs were given

(03:11):
to white workers. The housing boom almost entirely excluded Black Americans,
most of whom remained in cities that received less and
less investment from businesses and banks. Though the GI Bill
guaranteed low interest mortgages and other loans, they were not
administered by the VA itself. Thus the VA could co
sign but not actually guarantee the loans. This gave white
run financial institutions free reign to refuse mortgages and loans

(03:35):
to black people. We now know this as redlining, which
if you don't know anything about redlining, please look that up.
But this is what led to that, and then there
was a mass shift in wealth away from black folks
after that as well.