World War II and American Racial Politics

Steven White is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, New York. His research examines race and American political development, particularly the complicated relationship between war and the inclusion of marginalized groups. His research has been published in Studies in American Political Development, American Politics Research, and Social Science Quarterly. He has also written for The Washington Post's Monkey Cage and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

• 1. Introduction; 2. White racial attitudes, 1937–1950; 3. White veterans and racial attitudes, 1946–1961; 4. The Roosevelt Administration and civil rights during the Second World War; 5. The Truman Administration, military service, and postwar civil rights; 6. War, race, and American political development; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.

'Steven White's remarkable book enriches our scholarly understanding of the relationship between World War II and black civil rights advocacy. White acknowledges the compelling narrative that black activists were able to advance in light of their service, the ways that the executive branch both supported and resisted these narratives, and how white racial attitudes shifted during this period. This book encourages us to see the World War II era as an important but incomplete step toward civil rights, and helps to show the strengths and limitations of arguments for rights based on service.' Julie Novkov, University at Albany, State University of New York