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Racial discrimination effects on society
Racial discrimination effect
Racial discrimination effects on society
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During the great depression the lower class had been hit the hardest. In 1932 Roughly 25 percent of the national workforce was unemployed, while the national unemployment average for blacks stood at 48 percent ( "The 1930s: Lifestyles and Social Trends: Overview”). Within the lower class African Americans had it the worst because of the racism during this time. People who lost their homes often lived in what were called Hoovervilles (Lehnardt). Hoovervilles were towns built on the edge of the city by the unemployed and consisted of huts and shacks. As well as living in Hoovervilles they used flimsy newspapers as blankets because many could not afford to buy real ones. The unemployed held street demonstrations to ask the government for jobs
In Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1939: Decades of Promise and Pain, author David E. Kyvig, creates historical account of the Great Depression, and the events leading up to it. Kyvig’s goal in writing this book was to show how Americans had to change their daily life in order to cope with the changing times. Kyvig utilizes historical evidence and inferences from these events and developments to strengthen his point. The book is organized chronologically, recounting events and their effects on American culture. Each chapter of the book tackles a various point in American history between 1920 and1939 and events are used to comment on American life at the time. While Kyvig does not exactly have a “thesis” per se, his main point is to examine American life under a microscope, seeing how people either reacted, or were forced to react due to a wide range of specific events or developments in history, be it Prohibition, the KKK, or women’s suffrage.
Even the president said, "Something has to be done about the elimination of child labor and long hours and starvation wages" (Roosevelt). People worked to their breaking points and then still not being able to provide for their families. People were paid “starvation wages”, which are wages that are not high enough to pay for necessities (“Merriam-Webster”). Hoovervilles, otherwise known as hobo-camps or squatter-camps, began to arise (“Hoovervilles”). Obviously, extreme poverty and famine were a huge problem. The government got involved. FDR stated, "Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day, ...tell you...that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry" (Roosevelt). As a result, the Fair Labor Standards Act went into effect. Moreover, the Fair Labor Standards Act established minimum wage to prevent starvation wages, record keeping to avoid long hours, and regulations on child labor to prevent the labor abuse of children (“Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938”). It also put standards on how much employers had to provide. For example, things such as vacation, sick days, or raises are not required underneath the Fair Labor Standards Act (“Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938”). Through placing regulations on labor practices, the Fair Labor Standards Act helped people begin to have rights in their jobs, therefore making work be little
As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all the changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society.
The Great Depression, beginning in the last few months of 1929, impacted the vast majority of people nationwide and worldwide. With millions of Americans unemployed and many in danger of losing their homes, they could no longer support their families. Children, if they were lucky, wore torn up ragged clothing to school and those who were not lucky remained without clothes. The food supply was scarce, and bread was the most that families could afford. Households would receive very limited rations of food, or small amounts of money to buy food. This led to the starvation of families, including children. African-americans faced tougher challenges than most during the Depression due to discrimination. The classes hit hardest were middle-class
During the Great Depression millions of families lost their jobs, homes, and depleted their savings in both urban and rural areas. In 1930, 15 million people became unemployed due to the Dust Bowl. Millions of families lost their jobs, homes, and depleted their savings in both urban and rural areas. Out of the 15 million, 0ne million citizens moved to California between 1935 and 1940 in search for work of work. This made the population increase from 1.3 million Americans to 5.7 million. For most Americans work was not the only issue families were faced with, but also shelter. Between the early 1930s and 1932 families were squeezed in with relatives, the unit densities sky-rocketed, and either defied eviction or found shelter in vacant buildings. Most could not even pay for normal rent housing. This left people finding shelter under bridges, in courts, and vacant public lands where they began to build their own shelter. Thus this is when Hoovervilles began and Government camps arrived soon after.
In Alabama between 1932 and 2003 many things have changed. The book "To Kill A Mockingbird",was set in the 1930's.I can see many changes in the culture and the general way of life.
To sum it up Hoovervilles were small towns which were built by homeless people during the Great Depression. The largest Hooverville was in Seattle, Washington which was a house to 1,200 people. Hoovervilles were named to make fun of the president then in office Herbert Hoover. Hoovervilles were made with scrap wood or any other material they could find. Hoovervilles were up for 10 years, and then burned down after the Great
In the 1930s there was a lot of unemployment, and in 1932 one out of
The 1930’s were a decade plagued by the colossus economic downturn known as the Great Depression. With unemployment levels surpassing 20%, people did anything to earn money. This included riding the rail lines in order to look for work in other cities. In the American South, the problems of economic downturn and the problems of racial tension met in 1931 during the court case of the Scottsboro Boys.
In 1929 the Great Depression occurred that sent a panic through the country and a sharp decline in the United States economy. This decline accompanied an increase in homeless people. Although the United States had seen its’ share of homeless, the 1930s-1940s marked the peak. Many people believed the government would provide assistance but were let down. These homeless created Shantytowns to live in and called them Hoovervilles. These Hoovervilles contained awful hygienic conditions that would put many people at risk. The Great Depression brought along hundreds and thousands of homeless people and shantytowns, which was blamed on the government but has shaped
The 1920's was a time of change in the United States. “The Roaring Twenties” had an outstanding impact on the economy, social standards and everyday life. It was a time for positive results in the industry of consumer goods and American families, because of higher wages, shorter working hours, and manufacturing was up 60% in consumer goods. But it was also a time of adversity and opposition for others, such as immigrants and farmers. Immigrants had lots of competition when they were looking for work and they weren't treated fairly by Americans, depending on where they came from and what they believed. Farmers were paid very little because the price of food kept going down, they also had the Dust Bowl to worry about. African Americans became further infused with mainstream America during the Harlem Renaissance. They were also able to organize and elect officials who would make life better for them. The Roaring Twenties was a very exciting time to live in and we can all learn what the real world is like, and how we can prepare to be ready for it, today and in the future.
People did not think that being greedy would cause such pain, but nevertheless it caused more pain and suffering then the world knew was possible. When the Stock market crashed it was the beginning of all economic concerns in the 1930’s. This became a brutal time for everyone. Several tragedies occurred in the economy during the 1930’s including many people losing their jobs and becoming unemployed, people losing their homes and being unable to own land, and people having to wait in the Soup Kitchen line almost all day for food.
During the 1920s about 600 banks failed each year (Luke, 2009). No one was terribly concerned because these banks were not very large they were just rural banks. Investors and other businessmen thought that the reason these banks failed was because they were poorly managed and or just weak banks compared to large corporate banks. Some even believed that these bank failures would help strengthen the banking system. However, when the 1930s came around the problem became worse. Imagine working hard and saving enough money so that a new house, or a new Ford Model A, can be purchased. Then one day the money is just gone with no explanation. In 1930 approximately 1,350 banks were closed due to financial difficulties, while others were placed into receivership (Luke, 2009). Within the first four years of the 1930s about 10,000 banks closed. Due to these bank closures people became unemployed, which led to them losing everything. Bank closures in the 1930s caused the wealthy to lose their assets, which resulted in numerous suicides.
Hollingsworth, L. & Tyyska, V. “The Hidden Producers: Women's Household Production During the Great Depression” Critical Sociology 15.3 (1988): 3-27. Web. 31 October 2013.
Human nature has always been capable of great good and bad. This is a fact which is apparent today just as much in the past. While human nature can exhibit either of these good or bad qualities at any time, it is perhaps during times of great change and adversity that these elements become strongly exaggerated. Consequently, in the United States, the period from the 1920’s through the 1930’s saw both great change and adversity. Most disturbing of all was likely the Great Depression, the single worst economic downturn in US history, deeply affecting human nature for those living through it. It is clear then that the this time period brings out in a particular way this duality in human nature.