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The National WWII Museum asks…
How Can
Your Community Achieve Victory?
Pride and
Unprejudiced
Third Place: Jacqueline Thornton, 11th
grade, Granite Hills High School,
El Cajon, CA
At the age
of seventeen, the only thing I can
proclaim to know with complete
confidence is that there is still much
for me to learn. As a young woman, I am
now formulating for myself the basic
definitions of the world, sculpting the
way in which I perceive society. Each
day, the convictions which I held to be
true on the previous eve, are revised.
By using the tools of education and
experience, I have begun to build a
tentative construct of my own truth, my
own interpretation of the world. I
volunteer the disclaimer that my answer
to your question may be tweaked a month
from now, may perhaps be drastically
altered five years from now because my
idea of life is constantly transforming.
I have only seventeen years worth of
experience with which to understand and
define the concepts of “community” and
“victory,” but I am hardly ill-equipped.
In my ninth grade biology class, the
term “community” was defined as: “an
assemblage of populations which interact
with and affect one another.” Based upon
this definition, it seems narrow-minded
to classify a single neighborhood or
school as an entire community, simply
because locality is influenced by
society on a national level. Although it
defies the common idea of “community,” I
think our country can be described as
such because it is a collection of
populations which overlap and intertwine
to create a “melting pot” of cultures.
Currently, the issue which holds the
attention of our national community is
the upcoming presidential election.
Political viewpoints and opinions aside,
I am thrilled to see that running
alongside the customary white male
candidates are an African American man
and a Caucasian woman. This staggering
occurrence is a monumental step forward,
in and of itself. However, not everyone
is as delighted as I am. To my surprise,
I have witnessed attacks directed at
these two individuals based solely on
the fact that one is black and the other
is female. The first time I overheard
such a remark I was utterly horrified. I
continue to be as I realize, more and
more, the palpable part discrimination
still plays within our society. I am
reminded of Voltaire, who once wrote,
“Prejudices are what fools use for
reason.” It seems wholly outrageous to
me to discount someone’s words and
thoughts because of his or her
appearance. Grand and motivational ideas
are not exclusive to one race or one
gender and should not be evaluated
through filters of superficiality.
African Americans and women have
contributed remarkably to our society.
Indeed, we are a better nation and
people because of their presence and
involvement. In the global crisis that
was World War II, the roles of these
groups were astronomical in the war
effort, at home and overseas.
At the time, the plague of racism within
the United States was causing a degree
of inner turmoil. Lynching was not as
frequent as it once had been, but it was
hardly unheard of. Hate crimes and
racial slurs were socially acceptable
and openly practiced. African Americans
were denied their basic rights as
citizens and consistently degraded and
neglected. In spite of all of this, when
the need arrived, roughly 2.5 million
black citizens volunteered for military
service. Ironically, they set off to
combat discrimination overseas while
experiencing it at home. Three-fourths
of African American soldiers joined the
army, but under the conditions of
racism. Even while putting their lives
on the line, black soldiers were placed
in segregated units and separated from
their white counterparts. Nonetheless,
African Americans remained willing and
proved their worth undeniably. The 92nd
Division and the 761st Tank Battalion
both received outstanding decorations
and awards, as well as presidential
praise. Similarly, the aerial
battlefield was not without black
participants. The Tuskegee Airmen, the
first squadron of African American
fighter pilots, shot down numerous
German aircrafts and left a substantial
mark on the aerial arena.
The case of women is just as astounding.
Even though they existed within a cage
of social restrictions and were by no
means equal citizens, women readily met
the challenges of World War II. Roughly
ten million men had shipped off to
battle. The gargantuan demands placed on
American industry constituted an
enormous need for workers. The only
solution was to tap into the last
available resource: women. Millions of
females, across the country, reacted
eagerly and applied for industrial
employment, to build planes, tanks, and
other essentials. At the height of the
war in 1944, nearly nineteen million
women were wielding tools, sporting
trousers and aptly performing the work
of men. This shift in female employment
broke every social norm and limitation.
Suddenly, women could do the jobs of
their husbands and brothers, and were
proving to be just as valuable.
The calamity of World War II
necessitated aid from every American,
even those who had never been truly
regarded as worthy or important. Once in
my sophomore history class I read the
words, “How can we defend freedom
overseas by abandoning it at home?”
While existing under the blanket of
discrimination, the mistreated
minorities of our nation volunteered
their lives and careers to help the
country, yet sixty years later, they are
sometimes still regarded with a degree
of prejudice.
Our national community will have
achieved victory when a person’s
character and value can be judged
exclusively on his or her morals and
actions, regardless of skin tone and
gender. Although change is still
necessary, our country has evolved
tremendously since the days of World War
II. Today, men and woman of all colors
fight courageously side by side,
regarding one another as brothers and
sisters in arms. Now, in the 21st
century, Americans of countless cultures
are joined together in a unified front,
and while the current political
situation demonstrates the need for
further transformation, we are on the
path to success. There is no doubt that
our community will one day achieve
complete victory.
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