365th Infantry Parade
The 365th’s nickname was the Black Hawks. They participated in fighting near Metz, in northwest France, chasing a retreating German army until armistice was declared on November 11. According to the Chicago Tribune, the 365th suffered the most casualties of any unit in the 92nd Division. They returned to a huge welcome parade down Michigan Avenue on March 10, 1919.
Prior to U.S. entry into the war, there was a spirited discussion in Black media about whether Black America should support the war, but once the war started, the debate nearly ended and most leaders were on board. Many saw the war as a chance to prove to white America how patriotic, brave, and capable African Americans could be. Critics of the war often muted their opposition in order to avoid the persecution experienced by anti-war voices. While in France, Black soldiers were struck by the lack of a color line, and pondered what it meant to be fighting for “freedom” in other countries while it was not made available to them at home.
On their return to Chicago, African American veterans experienced the same economic downturn that all Americans did, in addition to racial discrimination and violence. But they also developed a burgeoning determination to defend themselves, in part based on their war experiences. In his overview of the eight causes of the 1919 Chicago Race Riots for the NAACP’s Crisis magazine, Walter White ended with “reaction of whites and negroes from war.” He wrote that African American veterans had a “new outlook on life” that helped inspire them to see “their lives and liberty were at stake” in Chicago, and they fought to defend them as they had in the war.
