The Double V campaign was a drive to promote the fight for democracy in overseas campaigns and at the home front in the United States for African Americans during World War II. The Double V refers to the "V for victory" sign prominently displayed by countries fighting "for victory over aggression, slavery, and tyranny," but adopts a second "V" to represent the double victory for African Americans fighting for freedom overseas and at home. The campaign first appeared in the African-American newspaper Pittsburgh Courier on February 7, 1942. The Courier was the most highly circulated black newspaper during the war, with a readership of around 350,000. Other black newspapers followed suit and adopted the campaign, including the Chicago Defender and the Amsterdam Star-News. The slogan was prompted by a response to the letter, "Should I Sacrifice to Live 'Half American? written by 26-year-old reader James G. Thompson. It was also a response to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had encouraged five editors of the top black newspapers in the United States to reduce the discontent and apathy of their readers toward the war. Pitched as "Democracy – Double Victory, At Home – Abroad", the campaign highlighted the risks black soldiers and civilians took while participating in America's struggle against the Axis powers while being denied their rights as full American citizens back home. African-American soldiers fighting abroad in the Second World War were still subject to segregation within the armed forces, despite fighting on land that did not hold the same racist ideology as that which they experienced at home and during their service. It was not until July 28, 1948, when President Harry S. Truman put forth Executive Order 9981, that the armed forces were racially integrated. Among African-Americans, the Double V campaign had a 91% approval rating and was supported by various institutions and organizations, such as North Carolina A&T State University and United Automobile Workers. Support for the campaign was bolstered by wartime events such as the Port Chicago disaster and Agana race riot, which underscored the disparities black soldiers faced. The campaign also played a role at home in encouraging defense industries to hire African-American employees who left the South in large numbers for the urban North and West Coast during the Second Great Migration to help the nation's war effort. Response to African Americans in the Second World War After the Japanese attack at the American