I wish there were names attached to the editorial piece that kicks off the August issue of The Crisis from 1918 (Vo. 16, No. 4). I wonder who was on this editorial board that addressed “the greater crisis” at stake for African Americans during World War I. I’m sure they were prominent African American leaders worth our study today. The column explains why the next issue will include 16 additional pages and result in a slight rise in subscription prices even though times are lean during the war. Under the sub-head “Help Us To Help” reads an excerpt from a petition unanimously adopted by 31 editors at a meeting in Washington — the next three pages lay out why it is important that America not only defeat Germany but that African Americans ride the wave of victory to gain civil rights.

The last paragraph in the left column of page 163 states “We deem it hardly necessary, in view of the untarnished record of Negro American, to reaffirm our loyalty to Our Country and our readiness to make every sacrifice to win this war.” African Americans were ready and willing to fight for the American cause, but the team of 31 editors wanted to make it clear to readers that they should take advantage of the momentum expected to swell after the war to gain new footholds in racial equality. The editors propose three simple requests, better public travel conditions, the acceptance of help regardless of color and the immediate suppression of lynching, to relieve the “natural unrest and apprehension” among African Americans on the home front to “wholeheartedly and unselfishly” “throw their every ounce of effort into this might and righteous war.” The fight for equality and rights did not fade for African Americans when America joined the war, and I think that’s something we often forget looking back a century later. World War I did not equalize the issue of race, and when African Americans were sent to the French lines, the home front was expected to carry on the war at home against discrimination and inequality. How naïve am I to assume that once America joins a war effort, racism no longer becomes a factor — and that goes for any war the U.S. has fought to present. On page 164, the editors declared “First, This is Our Country: We have worked for it, we have suffered for it, we have fought for it.” If America had acknowledged the bravery of African American soldiers and civil rights leaders in 1918, how could this have strengthened war efforts at home across all races and eliminated racial tension in the century to follow?