The USO Paradox: Race Relations and the USO

This poster examines the paradox of race relations within the African-American division of the United Service Organizations (USO) during World War II. It focuses on how the organization’s mission to provide recreation and boost morale for black soldiers conflicted with its failure to address racial inequities. While the national African American USO claimed to serve all black servicemen, its local divisions were often underfunded, understaffed, and segregated because of local prejudice. Using Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, as case studies, this research shows how race shaped access to resources and opportunities for Black soldiers.

In Hattiesburg, the wrongful firing of Miss Aquilla Matthews, one of the leaders of the 6th Street African American USO Club, revealed the ongoing racism within the organization’s leadership. She was dismissed for being “too light-skinned” and “too intelligent for the people she was serving,” showing how racial hierarchies undermined African American leadership. The unequal budget between White and Black USO clubs in Hattiesburg made the problem even clearer, highlighting the national USO’s failure to live up to its mission.

In Fayetteville, the African American USO struggled after its main facility burned down in 1944. Forced to move into the Teachers’ College gym, the club had inadequate space and limited resources. Local officials resisted integration, and the national USO’s reluctance to step in left the community to navigate racial tensions on its own.

Overall, this research shows that the national USO’s mission to “serve all soldiers” was compromised by its unwillingness to confront racism. The paradox of the African American USO is that, to provide proper services, it also had to address racial inequality, and its failure to do so in places like Hattiesburg and Fayetteville reveals just how deeply segregation shaped supposedly equal wartime programs.