On this day, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany, officially entering the United States into World War I. At the same time, Wilson had recently instituted policies that re-segregated federal government agencies, reversing prior gains in racial integration. While Wilson declared that “the world must be made safe for democracy,” Black Americans noted the contradiction between fighting for freedom abroad while being denied equality at home. This hypocrisy would fuel a new wave of Black activism and set the stage for the “New Negro” movement and the civil rights struggles to follow.
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