Idk maybe all the black Americans actively fighting in some of Europe’s most populous countries and the following American presence after the war.
And that’s ignoring the interactions between European nations and their African colonies. I’ll ignore the human zoos as well
Atomic@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Wow. I don’t even know where to begin.
Black US troops (which were segregated from the white troops) did not exactly run around on vacation in the french countryside.
Most French, Dutch, Englishmen, (among others) did not go to any colony. They stayed home… working their normal jobs. Farming the land, making shoes, sewing clothes, building houses. Etc.
And while we’re just starting to grasp the concept of US not being the entire world. I have to inform you of the next class, which will cover the fact that France and Germany is not even close to “most of europe”.
arrow74@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
Vacationing lol okay, I suppose all of the civilians left when any military was around so they never saw each other, oh wait that’s ridiculous.
I said the most populous countries in Europe. Germany, France, Italy and the UK all had very heavy military presence during and after the war. After is kinda key since soldiers were allowed to leave base and go to the towns.
Of course there are other European nations they were in too. Of the most populous nations they met the Soviets in Germany, but did not obviously make it to Russia. Not a majority of the Russian population but not insignificant. These troops would interact a bit during the occupation of Germany but that was limited as the cold war intensified.
In colonies you seem to forget people did travel both ways. Obviously more European based nationals traveled there, but people flowed both ways.
Btw troops were desgregated in 1948 during a period where the US was expanding military presence across most of western Europe. And even during the war do you think the battlefield was segregated? That’s crazy talk
Certainly some very interesting and interpretive takes though
Atomic@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Except for the fact that the vast majority of black soldiers went home and were not deployed in Europe after Germany surrendered.
What does it matter if they were segregated on the battlefield or not, you think there were civilians on the battlefield?
Contrary to what you might believe. Natives in the colonies were not exactly rich. Even in France, during the 50’s the amount of black individuals was measured in a couple of thousand. Not exactly a lot compared to the roughly 40 million french.
Your statement was that the majority of europeans in the 50’s had seen black people with their own eyes. And that’s just not true. I sure plenty had heard about them. Maybe seen pictures. But that’s another thing.
I did not see a black person in real life until i was 16 in 2010 and traveled to Florida. And by then i had already traveled around Germany and France. I do not imagine the probability of bumping into one was higher in the 50’s
arrow74@lemmy.zip 23 hours ago
I’m sorry, but I doubt this. I live in Germany myself and see several black people a day. Not usually something I track, but this conversation got me thinking so I paid extra attention during my normal commute. Germany does not collect racial demographics for obvious reasons, but France does. They’ve expirenced roughly a 3% increase in their black population from 2010 to today. Going from 3 to 6%.
If we assume at least a similar increase I find never real hard to believe. Like I don’t really want to just call you a liar, but it’s just statistically unlikely unless you avoided urban areas all that time.
Also this is an interesting read and touches on the exact solider relations I was talking about at least for Germany.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Germans