*

In 1942, the United States was in the midst of the dreaded blood bath that World War II was proving to be. While soldiers fought this war across sea, there was another conflict occurring on home soil. Racial tensions in the United States were building higher and higher as the Civil Rights Movement was soon to come. In attempt to not only combat the Axis powers, but also combat the racial barriers, the NAACP went all in on the “Double V” campaign. The artifact chosen clearly conveys a multitude of civic ideals as it tries to persuade fellow African Americans to follow the movement. While not only encouraging the civic action of supporting ones own country in wartime, the poster also rallies behind the need protest and reform for complete equality in the United States. As seen in the poster, Jim Crow is in the grasps of the NAACP, but with even more analysis one can notice the Nazi and Japanese flag on the feet of the crow. Political posters were extremely popular and persuasive during the World War II era, and this poster is a prime example of how organizations such as the NAACP would encourage civic action. Now taking a glance at the commonplaces involved in this artifact, the NAACP is employing an intriguing tactic. Since the birth of the organization, it was prominently known for their non-violence stance, but by encouraging mobilization of African American soldiers, they are portraying quite the opposite stance. Without directly stating it, the NAACP is implicitly encouraging the necessity of violence to influence change and defeat an oppressive power. Given, this stance was more than likely to simply convince the American people of the value the African American holds, though nonetheless there are striking parallels with the commonplace long held in American culture that violence is a necessary means of achieving peace or freedom. In contrast, this poster is also combating one of the longest held notions in American culture, segregation. While African Americans were considered free for nearly a century, racism and segregation were peaking as the idea of a free African American made many white Americans very anxious and uncomfortable. The emergence of a full-force Civil Rights movement is a symptom of this very commonplace in American culture and would ultimately lead to one of the greatest examples of civic action in the history of the United States.

*NAACP, and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom World War II and the Post War Years.” Apple Computers: This Month in Business History (Business Reference Services, Library of Congress), Victor, 21 Feb. 2009, www.loc.gov/exhibits/naacp/world-war-ii-and-the-post-war-years.html.