African Americans continued to struggle for freedom and equality during the years following the Great Depression. They have made many economic, political, and social initiatives to seek equality to white Americans. Many of their attempts failed and many were successful, but all of their endeavors proved that African Americans will not stand to be considered inferior to any race that they live with. A major economic struggle after the Great Depression for many Americans, including African Americans, was how they would be able to provide enough income to keep themselves and their families financially stable. Most African Americans worked in agriculture or as domestic servants. “As the ‘last hired and first fired,’ African Americans were hit hardest by the Depression. With an unemployment rate double that of whites, blacks benefited disproportionally from direct government relief, and especially in northern cities, jobs on the New Deal public-works projects.” Since some African Americans were also veterans at this time, they qualified for the G.I. Bill (1944), which provided massive federal funding to U.S. veterans for education, job training and placement, small business loans, and home loans. Unfortunately, just like other New Deal programs, this bill was not equally administered equitably along racial lines, because only the white race was considered superior to the others. In order to continue increasing their salaries, many African Americans had to move to a different location in order to find new jobs. The Second Great Migration helped expand the workforce. African Americans were attracted to new jobs in the North and West, so they left everything behind and moved to a completely new area. This migration proved to be even l... ... middle of paper ... ... rights proved to be a positive initiative in many social ways. In 1946, professional football teams started to desegregate. However, the Washington Redskins did not officially integrate until 1965. In 1947, Jackie Robinson, who was also a World War II veteran, became the first back professional baseball player since the 1880s. The famous TV series, Star Trek, even started hiring interracial casts. Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhuru, proved to be TV’s strongest African American character. In 1968, Star Trek featured the 1st black-white interracial kiss to be shown on TV. In conclusion, through many economic, political, and social initiatives, African Americans never gave up in fighting for their freedom. Their hard work can be seen in the equality that the black population is experiencing today. By being determined for a noble cause, any arduous goal will be achieved!
During and after the Great War blacks and left the rural South of Jim Crow Laws, lynching’s, and oppressive economic conditions also known as the Great Migration. “On a political front, participation in WW1 did little to directly advance the equal rights of African Americans.” (National Archives)
The Reconstruction-era was an extremely rough period for the African-Americans as well as many white settlers. The African-Americans endured numerous hardships and losses as a result of the white settlers' frustrations. Although the African-Americans' losses were great during this time, the progress made throughout that period is amazing. Many of them were sent off with nothing, to live on their own and a number of them managed to meet success. Their largest success came when the Reconstruction-era ended. African-Americans fought and struggled for their freedom, rights, and equality, for years, and although it took them a long time, they accomplished what they set out to do.
The New Deal advocated for women's economic and social rights immensely, giving them new opportunities and a more prominent role in the work force. Many African Americans gained new jobs and opportunities through the New Deals policies, “2,117,000 Negroes were in families receiving relief in the United States”(doc 16). Low-cost public housing was made available to black families, as well as other minorities who needed the economic relief. The National Youth Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps permitted black youths to continue schooling and The Work Projects Administration gave jobs to many African Americans.
The Union won the Civil War and after the Civil War, the African Americans got their freedom. Even though this may be known as the bloodiest battles of the U.S., it got the African Americans its freedom and the U.S. to remember how they got it.
Prior to World War I there was much social, economic, and political inequality for African Americans. This made it difficult for African Americans to accept their own ethnicity and integrate with the rest of American society. By the end of World War II however African Americans had made great strides towards reaching complete equality, developing their culture, securing basic rights, and incorporating into American society.
World War I and World War II both had significant social, economic, and political impacts on the lives of African Americans and brought enormous change within American society. Many African Americans viewed the war as an opportunity to fight for their country in exchange for equal citizenship rights at home. Unfortunately this was achieved through neither WWI nor WWII despite the irony of the US fighting a war for democracy abroad when discrimination existed on the home front. The central themes explored in which African American lives have been touched by the World wars are migration, military segregation, racial violence and political power. It is evident that although WWI and WWII did not amount to the momentous leap forward that African Americans desired in the pre-war years, the events undoubtedly had profound impacts on the lives of African Americans and ultimately paved the way for the Civil rights movement.
Born into slavery in February 1818, Frederick Douglass knew no other way until finally escaping in September 1838. In The Heroic Slave Douglass writes about the journey of a slave named Madison Washington and his fight against slavery. A white man named Mr. Listwell helps Madison throughout his fight and truly impacts his life for the greater good. Throughout The Heroic Slave Washington and Listwell express their dedication to fighting back against the oppression of Blacks, gaining freedom and proving that freedom is something everyone should have forever, and under no circumstances should never be taken from them. Both Madison Washington and Mr. Listwell think that everyone should have the right to freedom because in the big picture we are all only human.
Before World War II, although Abraham Lincoln had spoken the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the U.S. had gone through the Civil War around 1861, not much had significantly changed for African-Americans. Really nothing changed for African-Americans until much later, around the 1960s, when schools legally had to integrate African-Americans and whites. In relation to other events, World War II began in 1939, Jackie Robinson started on first base in 1947, and Rosa Parks was arrested in 1961. Therefore, at the time leading up to and shortly before World War II, there was not much effective action in terms of equal rights for all races. However, as seen here, after World War II, equality between races became a very prominent, pressing issue. This can partially be traced back to the effect of African-Americans in World War II.
African Americans everywhere were fighting for equality throughout the 1900’s. Any infraction committed by an African American, whether it be a major offense or minor transgression, would be punished harshly and immediately. They were considered members of a second class and by some, treated more like animals than people. Laws were passed for segregation, and whites began using violence to control the blacks. African Americans were terrified of the whites. No one wanted to take a stand until, Rosa Parks did by refusing to give up her seat on a bus for a white person. She stood up for what she believed in. Martin Luther King later gave a speech which provided hope that all African Americans would once and for all have equal rights. They were getting frustrated with all the inequality that they had to deal with so they started riots and marches, which led to big events that eventually helped pass the Civil Rights Act. The Civil Rights Movement helped African Americans achieve their goals of gaining equal rights by protesting and speaking up for themselves.
Richard Carver’s “Cathedral” focuses on the dealing and overcoming of predispositions. On a more critical accord, “Cathedral” exemplifies the testing journey of marriage. Carver reveals the reality of close outside friendships impends on marriage through unsettling insecurities, conflicting emotions, and ultimately leading to betrayal.
Nearly three centuries ago, black men and women from Africa were brought to America and put into slavery. They were treated more cruelly in the United States than in any other country that had practiced slavery. African Americans didn’t gain their freedom until after the Civil War, nearly one-hundred years later. Even though African Americans were freed and the constitution was amended to guarantee racial equality, they were still not treated the same as whites and were thought of as second class citizens. One man had the right idea on how to change America, Martin Luther King Jr. had the best philosophy for advancing civil rights, he preached nonviolence to express the need for change in America and he united both African Americans and whites together to fight for economic and social equality.
One believes that the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s made America safer for all races, but in fact, racism and discrimination are still big factors that continue to plague films, music, and even video games. I the article Race the Power of an Illusion, Dalton Conley says, “the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s really marks both an opportunity and a new danger in terms of racial relations in America. On the one hand, the Civil Rights era officially ended inequality of opportunity. It officially ended de jure legal inequality, so it was no longer legal for employers, for landlords, or for any public institution or accommodations to discriminate based on race. At the same time, those civil rights triumphs did nothing to address the underlying economic and so...
African Americans have been struggling for equality for many decades. It only seems that during the 1960?s is when there were actual significant advances made. This was about the same time that civil rights came into the political scene. Throughout the South, Blacks were still in the majority, but had no political power whatsoever. The Civil Rights Movement gave African Americans a voice and a chance to make a difference.
...ners they continued to fight. As more and more African American students were admitted into white Southern schools, segregationist continued to retaliate and defend their schools against them. No matter how difficult the situation turned out for some of them, and without much help from the government, African Americans did everything they possibly could to protect their educational rights for the sake of their future and success, and in the hope of promoting equality for all African American people of the United States. These students became the symbol of freedom and opened up the window of opportunity for all black people, for their ancestors, and for the future generations to come.
Because the Great Depression significantly reduced employment opportunities in the North for blacks, the rate of Southern black emigration slowed significantly during the 1930s. The Great Depression, though, increased the number of African American migrant workers. “The Great Depression also witnessed the entry of African Americans into the ranks of organized labor in unprecedented numbers. The formation in 1938 of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, an outgrowth of the American Federation of Labors Committee for Industrial Organization established in 1935, was crucial to this development” (statelib).