Racial Wealth Gap: Impact of Roosevelt's New Deal

1162 Words3 Pages

Since the early 1930’s, non-whites in America have seen a steady increase in the division of wealth between themselves and their Caucasian counterparts, beginning with President Roosevelt’s New Deal. Franklin D. Roosevelt created many programs to try and grow the American economy, create new jobs, and save the banks. These programs were known as the New Deal. Although most Americans applauded his efforts, the non-white groups in America did not feel the same. The programs that were created by Roosevelt inadvertently disenfranchised the non-whites leaving them with a bitter taste in their mouths for the new America Roosevelt was trying to create. While learning about the economic growth during the New Deal Era and much later, one can see …show more content…

College graduation rate skyrocketed and over two million veterans went to college because of the GI Bill of Rights. This increase in college graduates caused a shift from blue-collar workers to white-collar workers. Whites were making more money because they had better jobs, thereby increasing income disparity between the whites and non-whites. While non-white veterans received a college degree as well, they were not given the same job opportunities as whites because employers would hire an educated white man over an educated colored man (text 578). Under the GI Bill, whites were able to use government-approved loans to build and buy homes. This created valuable housing within a few decades causing more wealth for whites. This bill was great for whites in America, but not great for colored people because banks would not usually grant loans for mortgages in the non-white communities. The minority groups were excluded from the white communities because of specific covenants within the white suburbans. The whites did not allow the non-whites to live among them.

More about Racial Wealth Gap: Impact of Roosevelt's New Deal

Open Document