Lecture by Prof. Mary Louise Roberts, "Rape Hysteria and the Sexual Economy of Race: French Accusations of Sexual Assault against African-American G.I.s, 1944-1946 eMarch 21, 2013 at 7:30–9 p.m.

Mary Louise Roberts is one of the most distinguished historians in the U.S. She is professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of many books and articles about aspects of gender and society in 20th century France. Her lecture here is based on research for her new book _What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France_ (University of Chicago Press, 2013).

She summarizes the focus of her lecture as follows: In October 1944, the Army Chief of Police presented a list of crimes committed by G.I.s in France since the landings the previous June. At the top of the list was the offense of rape. According to the Chief's statistics, 152 rapes had been committed by American soldiers in France; of these 139 were supposedly perpetrated by "colored esoldiers. "When we consider that only approximately 10% of the troops on the continent are colored, ecommented the Chief, "the above figures are astounding. e In this way the Chief pointed to the disproportionate number of black soldiers convicted of sexual assault in U.S. military courts. Many more black soldiers were not only accused but also found guilty of rape than were white men.In the years 1944 and 1945, twenty-one public executions by hanging were carried out in France as a result of rape charges. Among the men who met their death by hanging, almost all were African American soldiers. Why were so many rape charges aimed at African American soldiers? How did rape become a "Negro ecrime in France? And why were so many more black soldiers than whites executed for the crime of rape? This talk will explore how the French and the Americans became deadly allies in racism, sending innocent men to their death.