Many
invited them into their homes. In the meantime, rumors spread in
America that Negro troops were taking unwise liberties with
French women. It was also said that the crime of rape was
widespread. Americans worried about what would happen when these
men returned home. The rumors were so insistent that, finally,
the government sent Dr. Moton, the president of Tuskegee
Institute, to Europe to investigate the situation. He found that
the rumors were totally unwarranted.
When the victors met at Versailles to write the treaty which
ended the war, black people around the world, including Afro-
Americans, hoped that they would take up the problem of the
African peoples as well. The only consideration which was given
to Africa, however, was the disposal of the German colonies.
These were distributed among the victors. This did nothing to
give Africa back to the Africans; it only changed the identity of
the European masters. W. E. B. DuBois, who was looking for a way
to spotlight the problem of the African peoples, called a Pan-
African Congress to meet in Paris simultaneously with the meeting
in Versailles.
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