Editing Woodrow Wilson (section)

=== African Americans in the armed forces ===
{{Further|Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces}}
[[File:King, Stoddard WW1 draft card.jpg|thumb|A World War I draft card. The lower left corner could be removed for men of African descent to help keep the military segregated.]]
While segregation had been present in the Army prior to Wilson, its severity increased significantly under his administration. During Wilson's first term, the Army and Navy refused to commission new black officers.<ref>Lewis, p. 332</ref> Black officers already serving experienced increased discrimination and were often forced out or discharged on dubious grounds.<ref>James, Rawn (2013). ''The Double V: How Wars, Protest, and Harry Truman Desegregated America's Military''. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 49–51. {{ISBN|978-1-60819-617-3}}.</ref> Following the entry of the U.S. into World War I, the War Department drafted hundreds of thousands of black people into the Army, and draftees were paid equally regardless of race. Commissioning of African-American officers resumed but units remained segregated and most all-black units were led by white officers.<ref>Cooke, James J. (1999). ''The All-Americans at War: The 82nd Division in the Great War, 1917–1918''. New York: Praeger. {{ISBN?}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2022}}

Unlike the Army, the U.S. Navy was never formally segregated. Following Wilson's appointment of [[Josephus Daniels]] as [[Secretary of the Navy]], a system of Jim Crow was swiftly implemented; with ships, training facilities, restrooms, and cafeterias all becoming segregated.<ref name="wolgemuth"/> While Daniels significantly expanded opportunities for advancement and training available to white sailors, by the time the U.S. entered World War I, African-American sailors had been relegated almost entirely to mess and custodial duties, often assigned to act as servants for white officers.<ref>Foner, Jack D. (1974). ''Blacks and the Military in American History: A New Perspective''. New York: Praeger. p. 124. {{ISBN?}}</ref>