The African American Voice in U.S. Foreign Policy Since World War II

Following World War II, America was witness to two great struggles. The first was on

the international front and involved the fight for freedom around the globe, as millions

of people in Asia and Africa rose up to throw off their European colonial masters. In

the decades following 1945 dozens of new nations joined the ranks of independent

countries. Following the Civil War, the African-American voice in U.S. foreign affairs

continued to grow. In the late nineteenth century, a few African-Americans — such as

Frederick Douglass — even served as U.S. diplomats to the "black republics" of Liberia

and Haiti. When America began its overseas thrust during the 1890s, African-American

opinion was divided.