Black soldiers in WWII broke down racial barriers

February 12, 2005 By the 1940s, several singular figures had upset the myth of racial superiority in the United States. The intellect of W.E.B. DuBois, the rhymes of Duke Ellington and Langston Hughes, and the athletic grace of Jack Johnson and Jesse Owens were hard to ignore. But for ordinary blacks, life was not improving. Jim Crow laws had disenfranchised the three-quarters of blacks who lived in the South, the Ku Klux Klan was thriving, and many careers were still closed to minorities. Only with World War II did things finally begin to change. Complete Story: http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/221653-2303-021.html