African Americans and the New Deal Flashcards
What did the WPA do and did it help African Americans?
- The Work Progress Administration was created in 1935, and spent $11 billion on work relief
- It employed eight million Americans and built a large amunt of infrastructure, e.g. 2500 hospitals
- It employed 400,000 African Americans at its peak in 1939
What was the NYA and how did it help African Americans?
- The National Youth Administration encouraged the education and employment of young Americans
- It had a department called the Division for Negro Affairs that was headed by African American Mary Bethune
- The Division for Negro Affairs ensured NYA and WPA programs were equitable and benefitted African Americans
What did the CIO do to help African Americans?
- The Congress of Industrial Organisations’s constitution prevented discrimination by trade unions
- This resulted in increased black union membership in the early part of the period, which provided an important vehicle for promoting unity and organisation
What did the Supreme Court rule on juries in 1935?
That Alabama’s use of all-white juries was unconstitutional
While not directly related to the New Deal, this may have signified shifting sentiments regarding the position of African Americans in legal and governmental contexts, accelerated by the ‘black cabinet’.
What was the ‘black cabinet’?
- A group of highly educated African Americans appointed by FDR
- It helped ensure that New Deal legislation was aligned with the needs of African Americans
- This number of African Americans in government was unprecedented
Who was the first black federal judge appointed by FDR?
William Hastie
Who was the first black congressman of the Democrat Party?
- Arthur W. Mitchell, who was elected in 1934
- His election shows that the black electorate, though still suppressed, was increasingly motivated to improve their position in American Society
What did FDR say that intimated a desire for equality in New Deal legislation?
‘We are going to make a country in which no one is left out’
How did African American voting patterns change as a result of the New Deal?
- Most black voters changed their allegiance from the Republican Party to the Democrat Party
- In 1932, nearly 3/4 of blacks voted Republican; in 1936, over 3/4 voted Democrat
- This shows that they benefitted from the New Deal and/or that FDR’s administration exhibited sympathy for them
What percentage of black families were receiving monetary relief from the New Deal by 1935?
30 per cent
What role did Eleanor Roosevelt play in fighting discrimination?
- She espoused an outspoken stance against racial bigotry
- One of her most famous acts was standing behind Marian Anderson, an African American singer, after she was refused an opportunity to perform at an event in DC
- She worked closely with Mary Bethune to promote equity in New Deal legislation
What role did civil rights organisations play in fighting discrimination throughout the New Deal period?
- The NAACP, led by Thurgood Marshall, challenged university entrance discrimination
- The Harlem Tenants’ Association challenged rent increases and evictions on the basis of race
What did the PWA and TVA do to help African Americans?
- The Public Works Administration introduced a quota for African American employment to its infrastructure-building projects
- The Tennessee Valley Authority, though discriminatory at first, did the same for its projects in Tennessee
- African Amercian TVA enrollment increased from 3% in 1933 to 11% in 1937
What did the Federal Housing Administration do to discriminate against African Americans?
The Federal Housing Administration, a New Deal agency, frequently refused to give mortgages to black families in traditionally white neighbourhoods
How were African American sharecroppers affected by the New Deal?
- Unemployment disproportionately increased
- Many sharecroppers lost their income as fewer workers were needed on farms
- This was a result of Roosevelt’s attempts to limit production, such as the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933
What was the Social Security Act and how did it affect African Americans?
- It was established to provide benefits for workers, unemployment insurance, aid for dependent mothers and children and support for people with disabilities
- While some relief was provided to African Americans, domestic workers, many of whom were black, were excluded from its provisions
Why were there few attempts from FDR to directly address social or political racism in the New Deal?
- There would have been opposition from southern Democrats in Congress
- Thus, the segregationist and disenfranchising laws were all kept in place, and no Civil Rights Act was considered
- Lynching also remained high, with 24 deaths in 1934, as FDR could not win support for an anti-lynching bill
What did the NRA do in the New Deal period?
- The National Recovery Administration provided codes of practice for industry (wage codes)
- It imposed regulations on working hours and wages
- However, like the Social Security Act, it excluded domestic workers as well as agricultural workers, many of whom were black, from its regulations, leaving them vulnerable to continued exploitation
- When the wage codes did apply to African American workers, they were often fired and replaced with white workers
What did the Wagner Act of 1935 do and how did it affect African Americans?
- The Wagner Act of 1935 guaranteed the right to organise trade unions
- However, it gave the American Federation of Labour, the largest union at the time, the ability to exclude blacks after dropping a provision preventing racial discrimination
- It also encouraged the AFL to have a monopoly on certain industries, preventing many African Americans from enjoying the protections of trade unions
