Segregation and War

The causes of war can vary; but often, it is for protection or defense. Whether it was the struggle against the communist threat of the 20th century or the current fight against terrorism in the Middle East, our nation is in a constant battle to protect its people. The same concept applies around the world to all countries, concerning a wide array of threats.

However, where does this need of protection arise from and why are we always convinced that our side of the struggle is worth defending? Without realizing it, every individual seeks to establish an identity within social realms because of the need to belong. “The result is that societies are patterned into numerous groups and associations that may or may not play a big role in social life. In the majority of cases these groups are defined by professions, interests, political convictions, leisure time activities, etc.” (Wagner et al, 2009) Furthermore, a national identity can also be established and feel threatened by other groups or nations. Ultimately, this can lead to segregation and war.

The Second World War was not just a war of conquest as it is often viewed. For many German Nazis, it was a struggle to protect their own; the threat was the Jewish race. Hitler’s police state believed that Jews were a threat to their society, economy, and government structure. In fact, they were considered parasites sucking out the life of the “Aryan” Germanic people. (Engel, 2000) Before he possessed any political significance, Hitler was already declaring that Jews “meant first of all to destroy the inner fabric of their countries”. (Hitler, 1925) Thus, Hitler launched the systematic campaign to rid his nation of what he was convinced was this terrible threat that challenged the fabric of society and life itself.

This ideology, of course, is one full of racism and segregation. Because Hitler and the Germans had categorized themselves as “Aryans”, they proceeded to discriminate against other social groups. Throughout history and across the globe, nations have dealt with similar issues often resulting in civil war, genocide, or legislative actions supporting segregation. In America, we fought the Civil War to end slavery. Nonetheless, the Jim Crow Laws were established to put forth a legal segregated state, with the hopes of creating a separate but equal society. However, the separated Black society was far from equal to that of the Whites.

In America, the social identity forced segregation and in Germany, racism and war were the result. I think both societies had the best motives in mind for their own people. However, would desegregating the American society or integrating Jews harm or benefit the general population in either situation? The Germans were convinced that any interaction with the Jews would result in hurting their nation. Through the 1935 Nuremburg Race Laws, the Jews were stripped of all their basic rights and could no longer work, attend school or social events, and intermarry with the Germans. (Engel, 2000) Similar treatment was mirrored towards Blacks in the South. However, instead of upholding the Jim Crow Laws, the Civil Rights activists in America fought for the opposite, so that all people would have the same rights and opportunities in the workplace, education and social life. For example, in 1964 only 2 percent of Black children living in the states of the former Confederacy attended school with White children. With the programs that President Johnson and the Supreme Court instituted, 32 percent of Black children began attending desegregated schools by 1968. (CEA, 1969) Time soon revealed that “desegregation also improved the achievement of Blacks without hurting the achievement of Whites”. (Matusow, 1984) Because the Blacks were improving without a cost to the white students, the society was actually benefitting as a whole.

Could this have been true in Nazi Germany? Does segregation make a nation stronger or is it weakened? Instead of segregating their society and attempting to wipe out an entire race, the Germans could have continued giving Jews equal and integrated opportunities; the results could have been similar to that of the U.S. where the society benefitted as a whole without segregation. Not only would the general population have had a chance at prospering, but 6 million Jewish lives would have been spared.

References:
CEA, 1969 Annual Report, 310.
Engel, David. (2000). The Holocaust: The Third Reich and the Jews. London: Pearson Education.
Hitler, Adolf. (1925). Mein Kamph.
Matusow, Allen J. (1984). The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s. New York: Harper and Row Publishers.