ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 examines diversity in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. Through the war years, the nation’s diversity was often cast in opposition to the Nazi’s embrace of the superiority of the “master race.” Forced to acknowledge our pluralism, the concept of diversity drifted further away from its WASPish past to symbolize the nation’s mishmash of race, ethnicity, and religion (as well as regionalism). Propagandist messaging showcased citizens of all stripes coming together in a common cause, a means of demonstrating our defining unified diversity.
Through the 1950s, the Cold War had a pronounced effect on the meaning and expressions of diversity, with the postwar consensus prescribing a relatively constricted interpretation of the idea. Immigration was tightly controlled, and the more liberally minded voiced their concern that severely limiting the number of new Americans was constraining the talent and energy of the nation and was antithetical to our loud claims of freedom and tolerance. In short, American identity was up for grabs, with a growing tension attached to the controversial topic of diversity.
