"Is it For this We Fought And Bled?": The Korean War and the Struggle for Civil Rights

The relationship between the Korean War and the African American civil rights movement is one that has been largely overlooked in the historical literature. This paper traces the internal struggles of the African American community during the war to examine its role in the evolution of the movement. It focuses in particular on the battlefield treatment of African American soldiers and the response of the home front to suggest that the Korean War was an important event in turning the civil rights movement towards a more confrontational position.