Harsh Times: Life For African Americans During The 1930s

Some slave owners were nice and let their slaves have real jobs and earn some money.

Equality is a basic right granted to everyone in the United States. Sadly, there was a point in time where specific people were not treated equally. The novel A Lesson Before Dying, written by Ernest J. Gaines, goes into detail about how African-Americans were treated in the late 1940’s. The reader is able to see the prejudice acted on the African-Americans through a black man’s eyes. Gaines believes that blacks were treated as an inferior race to whites and never received true justice or fairness.

After the Civil War ended, bringing freedom to enslaved African-Americans, they still had one more major social issue to fight, segregation. Segregation lasted from the end of the Civil War to the 1960s. During this time, the South and the North both faced segregation, but the South primarily faced the most racial tensions. This time frame in American history was known as the Jim Crow era. Additionally, African-Americans faced many hardships during this time, such as unclean bathrooms, unequal and separate water fountains, voting restrictions, and awful schooling compared to whites. Segregation was allowed in the United States of America as the 14th amendment abolished slavery, but left gaps on the topic of fair segregation on all levels.

The worldwide economic downturn known as The Great Depression took the world by storm. It was during this dilemma that every group of americans were immensely affected. None were affected as much as African Americans and racial status. It was this depression that made the already problematic lives of the African Americans even more challenging. Factors which which influenced racial issues against blacks in the early 1920’s through 1930’s were the Second Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow Laws, the fight for jobs, and the racial riots/lynchings that followed.

Segregation means setting someone or something apart from other people or things. Segregation in the 1940s may have applied to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, riding on a bus, or purchasing a home. Like Vivien Thomas, he was helping Dr. Blalock, but his job title was still “janitor”. Also, Vivien had a hard time finding a home for his family because he was African-American. So, think about all of the other black people trying to find jobs, transportation, and a home.

In the 1950s there were several laws that kept African American people separated from White Americans. African Americans were not allowed to do anything with White Americans or even be close to them. The White Americans were so harsh toward them that they established laws that said that African Americans could not vote, could not enter the same building of White Americans, they was not even allowed to drink out of the same water fountain. The people of the South were very strict to their beliefs and laws and if any African American was caught breaking any of the laws they were punished and sometimes killed. Some African Americans that were not familiar with the dangers of the south were few of the unfortunate ones to lose their life. Emmet

Many Americans were concerned by the change that needed to happen for the people. The people were starting to stand up for what they believed in. With population increasing, things started to get out of control. Many political people held to much power over the people. People living in poverty were suffering more than they have been. Companies started creating monopolies all over and controlling jobs, and money. African-Americans took one of the biggest tolls during the progressive era. They had to fight for what they believe in, and literally fight. These people, as they use to say, were discriminated from the school house, all the way to the water fountains. African-Americans were looked at like a disease at this time. They had unfair housing,

In social settings, African Americans faced many challenges due to what the US had planned

During reconstruction blacks were separated from the whites and not allowed to use certain things, this was called segregation.People made laws called Jim crow Laws to support this act.[Doc. E Jim Crow Laws] These laws made blacks and whites use different things for everything. The blacks and whites did not share any public services together.

In the 1930s, many white farm owners would pull black students out of school to work for them even if they did not need them. They did this because they did not think they deserved an education. Many students had to drop out of school to work for their family, because the family was not making enough money to live off of. Many of the African Americans that attended school never got past the fourth grade.

They had many more rights than they had before however they still experienced a large amount of hate. African Americans migrated during the Great Migration due to poor living conditions and treatment in the Southeast of the United States (Phillips 33) . “For many blacks, their departure from the South was a response to, and a defiance of, the coercions used to keep them bound to segregation” (Phillips 39). In the 1920’s, treatment of African Americans was different, blacks were able to do more such as getting a job however, some felt as though the hate they would get for it wasn 't worth it. Although, there would always be challenges that African Americans would have to face such as landowners supporting the passing of laws meant to control the mobility of blacks, limit their wages, and minimize their chance to purchase and own land (Phillips 33). African Americans were able to work for their own money now and gain confidence while living in America. They began to publish newspapers which increased the awareness of racial violence and express their freedom from restraint through art (O’Neill). This “negro fad” in the United States influenced art and drama that focused on the depiction of an African American in the 1920’s. African Americans were revolutionizing the way they were perceived in the U.S.. They gained confidence and made efforts to achieve their ultimate goal,

The process of black slavery taking route in colonial Virginia was slow. Black slavery mostly became dominant in the 1680s. Slaves became the main labor system on plantations. The amount of white indentured servants declined so the demand for black slaves became necessary in the mid-1660s. The number of white indentured servants that Virginia had up until the mid 1660s, was enough to meet white peoples labor needs. Slavery was also increasing because you never had to pay the slaves that you owned and the plantations required a lot of labor, so slaves were a lot cheaper than the indentured servants. The profits from tobacco and rice led planters to import enslaved Africans, which made the economy depend on slavery. Although slavery was a morally

Blacks in the North were partially free, but had limitations. [Document B is a excerpt from the book, Life and Liberty in America by Charles Mackay. He wrote this in 1857-1858, and had it published in 1859.] According to Doc. B, it states, “We shall not make the black man a slave; we shall not buy him or sell him… He shall be free to live, and to thrive.” Doc B is saying that black men, are not slaves in the North. The Blacks live freely amongst themselves. Blacks are free to live without owners, and the label of just being property. This changed the life of African Americans. Having African American’s not be slaves, and to have the liberty of living freely, and it allows African Americans to feel human, and not like animals. Allows them to choose their jobs and they way they want to live their lifestyle.

Mexican Americans/Chicanx people in the United States throughout the 20th century have always had disadvantages in the United States. They been fighting oppression, discrimination and equal rights in this country. From establishing a colonial labor system, enforced immigration laws, LAPD police brutality, El Plan de Aztlán, El Plan de Santa Bárbara, and the 1968 walkouts. The history of Chicanx people in this country is huge but is still not really well known by many but thanks to all of the fighting for equal rights that Chicanx people fought for we now have ethnic classes that teaches us about our own history and empower us to keep on fighting for our rights.

The CCC could have had the possibility of benefitting our fictional family greatly. The CCC was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States. It was for young men who were unemployed and unmarried. Having three boys that could all work would have turned out great for our family, except we were put in a unique situation and we could have many different outcomes of how our lives would have gone.