“Dixie Carmen”: War, Race, and Identity in Oscar Hammerstein's Carmen Jones (1943)

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNEGRET FAUSER
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
African American ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
African Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pearl Harbor ◽  
World War ◽  
Porgy And Bess ◽  
Night Club

AbstractIn December 1943, an all–African American cast starred in the Broadway premiere of Carmen Jones, Oscar Hammerstein II's adaptation of Georges Bizet's Carmen. When Hammerstein began work on Carmen Jones a month after Pearl Harbor, in January 1942, Porgy and Bess was just being revived. Hammerstein's 1942 version of Carmen, set in a Southern town and among African Americans, shows the influence of the revised version of Porgy and Bess, with Catfish Row echoed in a cigarette factory in South Carolina and the Hoity Toity night club. It took Hammerstein more than eighteen months to find a producer, and when the show opened by the end of 1943, the setting in a parachute factory and urban Chicago reflected new priorities brought on by wartime changes. Commercially one of the most successful musical plays on Broadway during its run of 503 performances, Carmen Jones offers a window on the changing issues of culture, class, and race in the United States during World War II. New archival evidence reveals that these topics were part of the work's genesis and production as much as of its reception. This article contextualizes Carmen Jones by focusing on the complex issues of war, race, and identity in the United States in 1942 and 1943.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Kori A. Graves
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
African Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Adopted Children ◽  
Transnational Adoption ◽  
World War ◽  
Birth Mothers ◽  
Adoptive Family ◽  
Displaced Children

The introduction provides a brief history of the development of US domestic adoption, and African Americans’ roles in US and transnational adoption in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Since the professionalization of adoption in the United States largely evolved around the needs of birth mothers, children, and adoptive parents who were white, African Americans’ efforts to care for orphaned and displaced children through formal and informal adoptions has been underappreciated. The introduction describes the ways African Americans adopted children in the United States and, after World War II, foreign-born children of African American soldiers. This approach provides a foundation for understanding how African Americans’ participation in Korean transnational adoption was similar to their domestic adoption efforts and their efforts to adopt World War II GI children. It also suggests reasons why efforts to increase the professionalization and standardization of Korean transnational adoption reduced African Americans’ participation in this method of adoptive family formation.

The Japanese Invasion

Jazz in China ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 67-78
Author(s):  
Eugene Marlow
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Manifest Destiny ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Pearl Harbor ◽  
World War ◽  
Prisoner Of War ◽  
Internment Camps

During World War II, the Japanese constructed prisoner of war camps in fifteen countries, including China. These camps numbered approximately 240. The Japanese—whose attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 brought the United States into World War II— saw their global role as manifest destiny, particularly with respect to China. Militarist Japan's attempt to conquer China began by seizing Manchuria in 1931 and became a full-fledged invasion from 1937 [when they attacked Shanghai] to 1945. This chapters shows that American jazz musicians—all of whom were playing in Shanghai—were not immune to the Japanese invasion and occupation. Some landed in internment camps in China and the Philippines.

The FBI Helped to Define the Twentieth-Century Black Atlantic, Both Blocking and Forcing Its Flows

F.B. Eyes ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
African American ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Atlantic ◽  
World War ◽  
Black Transnationalism ◽  
The Mind

This part marshals the largely uncompiled evidence of FBI author files to suggest that the worst suspicions about the stakeout of Paris noir were basically correct—that Wright was not too wrong, it follows, when he darkly joked that any African American “who is not paranoid is in serious shape,” at least if he or she sought literary license outside the United States during the Hoover era. Two decades before American involvement in World War II opened the floodgates of black Paris, the FBI began to influence the movements of expatriate Afro-modernists—this even as it manipulated “lit.-cop federalism” to nationalize itself in the mind of white America. In the French capital of black transnationalism, and satellites beyond, FBI agents and informers kept tabs on a network of black literary travelers they hoped to link by the vulnerabilities of statelessness alone. Thus, this book's fourth thesis: The FBI helped to define the twentieth-century Black Atlantic, both blocking and forcing its flows.

Raleigh Schorling in World War II

1951 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-78
Author(s):  
Joseph J. Wickham
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Training Program ◽  
United States Navy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pearl Harbor ◽  
World War ◽  
Enlisted Men ◽  
Training Courses

During World War II, Raleigh Schorling gave extensively of his time and knowledge to the Training Program of the United States Navy. The idea of a Navy training program was not entirely new. In fact, as far back as World War I, the Navy had instituted a system of Training Course Manuals for use by enlisted men who were striving for promotion in their respective rates. However, the available training courses in all ratings were limited in number and, at the time of Pearl Harbor, considerably outdated. Naval Aviation meanwhile had become a large and extremely important part of the Navy. There were more than 22 regular aviation ratings and 13 specialist designations, but only four training manuals.

scholarly journals The status of persons of japanese ancestry in the United States and Canada during world war II: a tragedy in three parts

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward G. Hudon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pearl Harbor ◽  
World War ◽  
Executive Orders ◽  
Lieu De Travail ◽  
The Status ◽  
Japanese Ancestry ◽  
Le Canada

Dès l'attaque de Pearl Harbor par le Japon, le 7 décembre 1941, les États-Unis et le Canada ont tous deux pensé que leur sécurité était menacée par la présence de personnes d'origine et de descendance japonaises sur la côte du Pacifique, où existait déjà un fort sentiment anti-japonais. Les droits des individus paraissent avoir été tout à fait oubliés par ceux qui, dans les deux pays, furent chargés de remédier à cette situation plutôt imaginaire que réelle. Sans qu'il ne soit tenu compte de la nationalité et de la loyauté des personnes, tout un groupe ethnique a été ainsi obligé d'abandonner ses biens et placé de force dans des centres de détention éloignés du foyer et du lieu de travail habituel. Aux États-Unis, ce déplacement massif fut le résultat d'Executive Orders, de Relocation Orders et de Civilian Exclusion Orders. Au Canada, cette déportation fut décidée par ordres en conseil. La British Columbia Security Commission, composée de trois personnes, eut la responsabilité d'organiser et de diriger l'évacuation de toutes les personnes de race japonaise de certaines régions de la Colombie Britannique. Cette Commission eut à déterminer le moment de l'évacuation, le mode de transport, l'endroit de détention, etc. . . Aux États-Unis, quatre-vingt-dix jours après que l'évacuation eut été entreprise sous surveillance militaire, 110,142 personnes avaient été déplacées à partir de certaines régions des États de Californie, de Washington, d'Oregon et d'Arizona. Au Canada, une fois que la Commission de sécurité de la Colombie Britannique eut accompli son travail, toutes les personnes d'origine et de descendance japonaises, soit environ 21,000 personnes, avaient été repoussées à l'intérieur d'une bande de terre large de cent milles partant de la côte du Pacifique. Aux États-Unis, les Japonais purent contester ce déplacement pendant qu'il eut lieu, avant la fin de la guerre. Au Canada, ce ne fut possible qu'après la guerre, et que relativement à la validité des ordres de déportation. Dans le cas des États-Unis, trois cas ont été examinés par la Cour suprême. Dans deux causes, Hirabayashi v. United States (1943) et Korematsu v. United States (1944), le pouvoir du Gouvernement des États-Unis d'agir ainsi en temps d'urgence a été affirmé. Dans une troisième, Ex Parte Mitsuye Endo, l'idée que le Gouvernement peut dans ces circonstances détenir une personne loyale a été rejetée. Dans ce jugement le juge William O. Douglas a écrit : « Un citoyen reconnu comme fidèle ne pose aucun problème d'espionnage ou de sabotage. La fidélité est une matière du coeur et de l'esprit, et non de race, de croyance, ou de couleur. Celui qui est fidèle n'est par définition ni espion ni saboteur. Quand le pouvoir de détenir dérive du pouvoir de protéger l'effort de guerre de l'espionnage et dit sabotage, la détention qui n'a aucun rapport avec cet objectif est sans autorisation ». Au Canada, la Cour suprême s'est divisée sur la question de la validité de la déportation des épouses, des enfants de moins de seize ans et des sujets britanniques résidant au Canada. Le Conseil privé fut toutefois d'avis que les ordres en conseil devaient être envisagés dans leur ensemble et qu'ils n'étaient pas ultra vires. D'un point de vue rétrospectif, le traitement des Japonais-américains et des Japonais-canadiens pendant la deuxième guerre mondiale montre qu'en temps d'urgence, même l'homme raisonnable et juste peut parfois oublier les droits d'autrui et agir d'une façon très étrange.

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuge Wei
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pearl Harbor ◽  
World War ◽  
National Image ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Nationalist Government ◽  
Current History

The period between 1928 and 1941 witnessed two marked trends: the growing sympathy for China’s anti-Japanese cause in the English-language press and the development of China’s foreign propaganda system. The two processes were closely connected. Even before China became a military ally of the United States and Britain after Pearl Harbor, it had already become an emotional ally. A change in national image is always a complex process. Other elements, such as the conflict of interests between the Western powers and Japan as well as Japanese atrocities in China, may well have contributed to the shift in public opinion. Yet it is undeniable that China’s continuous propaganda efforts intensified the existing tensions between Japan and the Western powers and strongly promoted the change. History does not allow “what if” questions. Yet some hypothetical scenarios are useful in urging us toward a reevaluation of the significance of certain stories and events that are absent from current history telling. Would the United States have entered the war in 1941 without any propaganda effort from the Nationalist government? Had the United States delayed confrontation with Japan and stayed out of East Asia, could Chiang Kai-shek’s government have survived Japan’s encirclement? If the Chiang Kai-shek regime had collapsed in the early 1940s, would World War II have ended with the same result?...

World War II

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggi M. Morehouse
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Military Service ◽  
African American Men ◽  
African Descent ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Black Soldiers

The war years were transformative for people of African descent, particularly in the United States. About 10 percent of the population, or 13 million people out of 130 million Americans, were of African descent in the war years. More African Americans than in previous times were engaged in military operations and defense industry work, and larger numbers were represented in the federal government’s operations. African Americans migrated in larger numbers to different regions for work or military service, they experienced a transformation into a more urban community, and many became foot-soldiers agitating for equality and civil rights. African Americans who experienced the war years either stateside or on the international stage were profoundly affected by their experiences, including the horrors of combat warfare and the opportunities of a booming wartime economy. Having survived the bleakness of the 1930s-era economic depression, World War II America offered more opportunities for employment, better living conditions and life choices, and advancement through military participation. However, all of these opportunities were hampered by the anti-black racism that greatly reduced equality within the military, the government, and defense industries. Two million African American men and women found new employment in war industry jobs. The army’s governing policy called “segregation without discrimination” meant mostly white officers commanding black troops, which limited the opportunities of black soldiers. Still, 2.5 million African American men and women volunteered for military service, with about 1.5 million ultimately selected to serve. Over six thousand African American women formed into segregated units of the Women’s Auxiliary Corps. Two army infantry divisions of black soldiers fought in the war: the 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division in Italy, and the 93rd Blue Helmets Division in the Pacific Islands. While most of the “Greatest (Black) Generation” served in service and support units, some fifty thousand black soldiers served in combat units. Other specialized units included the Tuskegee Airmen, the “Triple Nickle” Parachute Unit, the 761st “Black Panther” Tank Battalion, and the “Red Ball Express” Trucking companies. Black soldiers helped to liberate Nazi concentration camps, they came ashore in the D-Day operations, and they volunteered in the brutal Battle of the Bulge campaign, among many other distinctive operations. Black medical professionals ran international healthcare operations. Specialized service personnel performed engineering feats through difficult terrain. America’s defense industries employed more black workers from ship building to parachute construction, from Victory gardens to government appointments, and in the production of guns and butter. In spite of the prejudicial treatment that constrained their participation, many African Americans resisted segregation and discrimination by engaging in the “Double V” campaign: Victory against America’s enemies abroad, and Victory against racism at home. Because the war years brought about more transformations than before, this is a significant time in African American history.

Epilogue

Brown Beauty ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 261-262
Author(s):  
Laila Haidarali
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
African American Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Board Of Education ◽  
World War ◽  
Short Period ◽  
And Function

This epilogue reemphasizes the arguments in the book. Brown-skin models acquired significant social status as African American women on an expanded global stage between 1945 and 1954—a short but critical period that marked the end of World War II, the hardening lines of Cold War politics, and the significant victory of Brown v. Board of Education that, in 1954, made segregation illegal in public schools. Indeed, during this short period and turning tide, a powerful iconography of beautiful brown women emerged to represent African-descended people in the United States by recasting beauty as a democratic right and function. Brown beauty was formalized, both at home and abroad, as a consumerist symbol of women’s successful negotiation of the trials of race, sex, and womanhood in the postwar nation, still half-segregated.

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