US War and Depression Essay
Struggle of African American People 1929-1941
African Americans have always struggled throughout history, and th1930s was no exception. During this period they were victims of hate crimes, racism, discrimination, segregation, and lynching, had unfair employment and had very bad access to education and other resources. The great depression was felt throughout the entire country but was obvious that African Americans were getting the worse end of the stick. Roosevelt’s new deal helped many people in America also, yet again it seemed that African Americans were often left behind, or more their needs were dealt with second to whites. Although Roosevelt had little interest in race relations and civil rights, his wife Eleanor realised the crisis black people faced in America, and did much to aid them throughout the 30s. African Americans were still affected by the Jim Crow laws, which saw the segregated in many areas such as schools, public transport, and drinking fountains, in restaurants and even in the military. Even in times of war America could not bring itself together to fight alongside people who were fellow countrymen, regardless of the colour of their skin to fight what they all believed to be a greater evil. So yes, the 1930s were a turbulent time for race relations in America, despite the decline of organisations like the Ku Klux Klan, which received renewed support during the 10s and 20s in America tensions were still high in America between blacks and whites[1].
There were many ups and downs for blacks in the 1930s, although they had backing from many parties such as the NAACP and from people like Eleanor Roosevelt and even from many New Deal programs that gave them a voice in the arts, with federal music, theatre and writers projects, They still suffered large amounts of discrimination from many other angles. The WPA (Works Projects Administration) tried to encourage jobs for blacks in the south,