African Americans In The 1940's Essay

During the 20th century, the people of America had to adjust to new desires, lifestyles, and the new materialistic economy. After entering World War I, the aftermath included false positives that in the end, turned out to be complete negatives. Citizens of America possessed materialistic beliefs that led to disappointments. African Americans were confronted by atrocious social conditions. The frustrations faced by many Americans living in the 1920s, included the desires for materialistic possessions in hopes of contentment, the aspirations for freedom and the dignified need for racial equality, are all elucidated in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, “Winter Dreams”, and both poems, “Democracy” by Langston Hughes and “The White House” by Claude Mckay.

To answer the question of did race play a role in the fundamentalist orientation of conservative Americans in the 1920’s, we have to look at some ideas that the fundamentalist operated on. Fundamentalism was a movement, born out of American Protestantism and suggested five vital beliefs of Christianity. These beliefs were the literal interpretation of Scripture, Christ’s virgin birth, atonement of Christ for our sins, Christ’s resurrection and the reality of Christ’s miracles. Many fundamentalists believed that the Bible was the only true book of human history, and that the Holy Spirit was spoken in the Bible to its authors as literal and word for word. Fundamentalists continually attacked against modernism in three ways: their first unsuccessful

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the sleepy, southern Maycomb, Alabama. A small town in the grips of 1930’s depression, To Kill a Mockingbird spans a period of three years following young Scout Finch and her family through their experiences with racism and prejudice. Jim Crow laws were a series of ordinances the prevented equal treatment of African-Americans. Beginning with the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and remaining in effect until the Civil rights movement of the 1950s, Jim Crow laws governed where colored people could live, work, eat, enter and exit a building, and use public services. “Jim Crow laws grew from theories of white supremacy and were a reaction to Reconstruction,” explained Andrew Costly of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, “In the depression-racked 1890s, racism appealed to whites who feared losing their jobs to blacks.” Ensuring that freed slaves remained weak and inferior, Jim Crow laws revoked black freedom’s and crippled their rights. And while not explicitly stated, evidence of Jim Crow Laws appears methodically throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Strongly influenced by elements of racism, the story paints a vivid picture of life in the era of Jim Crow, for both colored and white.

In the 1930s African Americans were not treated very well. They were losing all of their jobs, and kids were not able to go to a proper school. Some could not even attend school. African Americans were really impacted in the 1930s as they suffered from no jobs,not being able to vote for a while, and money and not having access to a good education, but as African Americans fought over the years, they finally got the rights they deserved.

Women once again were the backbone of America during WWII just like in WWI. They worked high jobs reserved for men and some women helped create machines that would help in the war (ships, tanks, planes, etc.). Agricultural took a backburner because many left their jobs to either fight in the war or work in jobs that would provide for the war. Although the jobs for women didn’t last long and they didn’t get paid as much it set in motion more encouragement for Women’s Suffrage. African Americans also moved from farming to more industrialized jobs because they believed that winning the war might encourage more equality in America itself. African-Americans could earn more money and FDR passed the FEPC (Fair Employment Practices Commission) but it was not practiced much in the armed forces. In the armed forces African-Americans were given small jobs and not properly trained for higher jobs if they got one. The FEPC called for the armed forces to give out

Throughout the years of American history, African Americans have been treated unfair by white Europeans, and Americans. They were brought from Africa to work as slaves; and since their arrival, they suffered from oppression and were deprived from any constitutional rights that could protect them against discrimination from the settles. However, after the time of the Emancipation Act during the reign of Abraham Lincoln, and blacks were able to slightly improve their livelihood by obtaining their freedom, some acquired property, and were able to vote and hold office all with the help of the federal government. After the Republican Party lost its power in congress, President Grant grew tired of helping the south; the North stopped

Did you know that African Americans were not taken seriously in the 1930s? In the 1930s African Americans wanted to be heard and respected. Although their demand was strong society didn’t want to hear their plea. The people, culture, and economy played a big part in the 1930s. Furthermore, in the 1930s African Americans tried to make a living in society and they wanted to advance in the community.

While Jackson’s accomplishments may have shown how great democracy can be at reforming governments and regenerating a race of men, his words likely rang hollow for the oppressed people of this period. Early Americans experienced varying levels of prosperity and prejudice depending on where they fit into the society. The Anglo-American male had opportunities available to gain wealth, land, and increase their social standing. For certain populations like the African-Americans, Native-Americans, and women to a certain extent, this wasn’t the case. Due to the lack of equal opportunities experienced by many, the nineteenth century America resembled more of herrenvolk republic, than that of a true republic.

In the 1930s, women in American society were not given the opportunity to thrive as much as they were capable of doing. Women were put in difficult situations that undermined their capability to doing certain tasks and were contained to being put in a home where they were expected to clean,cook and take care of their family. The women that did work, however, experienced poor working conditions where they had to work long hours in an unsafe working environment with very low pay. During this time, women were also experimenting with their sexuality. Women did not feel the desire to be with a man and chose to be single at this time and used it to find spiritual, emotional and occasionally even sexual fulfillment with other women. Women were still

Many people do not realize what prejudice was like in the 1930s. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, prejudice is a main problem for some of the characters. There are many different examples throughout the novel. “Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him” (pg.301), is only one of them. There are three examples of prejudice, people judging each other over things like race and the amounts of money they own, the people of the town judging Atticus and his family for defending Tom, and sending Tom to prison because he was black and Mayella was white when they knew he was innocent.

In this day and age, people of different races get along so well that you wouldn’t know there was a racial divide in the past. Sadly, these things did occur, and through the years, this divide has been brought up, from parents to children, so the peace can live on in the better society we have today. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout lives through her childhood, figuring out the social injustices either through the community, Jem, or Atticus. By looking at race relations both in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird and present day, the audience can conclude that social injustice has improved, which can be shown through specific events in the novel and current events today. When taking a look into the 1930s, it is clear that the legal

In our society today the racism cannot compare to the racism and prejudice that African American’s had to face throughout the 1800’s and on. This topic is a prominent point in the development of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This book focuses on the hardships of a young girl, Scout, during the years of the depression. Her family is greatly impacted by specific laws set out for coloured people called the “Jim Crow Laws”. Throughout a trial that her father is involved in, we see the rights that are violated when it comes to black people.

The newspapers covered many of the social and political problems of the South because it was the best communication to the

Readers of To Kill a Mockingbird contribute their thoughts in the article “A Different Read of Mockingbird” by Scott Martelle discussing the book’s limited and outdated perspective off the 1930s and the Great Depression. Admittedly, the novel ceases to fully reach the outlook of African Americans struggling through hardships during the Great Depression since Scout expresses the story “from the white perspective, from a racist kind of view…[people] [do] [not] see much about African American characters;[the] [readers] [do] [not] get to know them on a personal level” (Martelle 1). The story focuses its attention on a white girl’s coming of age story and the world through her point of view making it difficult for a black person to relate to. Thus, it may not touch a black readers’ perspective as deeply as it touches a white readers’ perspective. However, the novel portrays accurate representations of racism which many readers can relate to. It has been argued to touch all varieties of people on a personal level through its cultivating words and historical

Although we like to think it, prejudice is not a thing of the past. While racial prejudice isn’t as bad as it was in the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and the 2011 movie, The Help, it still surrounds us on a daily basis. In both the book and the movie, African Americans are suspected of crimes they didn’t commit, just because of their skin color. The same type of thing is heard throughout America on a daily basis, and even in schools. African Americans are often singled out, simply because of their appearance. Along the lines of the issue of police brutality in modern times, both The Help and To Kill a Mockingbird feature African Americans being physically abused, all because of a stereotype. During 1964 when The Help took place, and 1935 when To Kill a Mockingbird, there were still signs of slavery. Today, the confederate flag can still be seen being flown, once a sign of the Ku Klux Klan. Although we like to shade our eyes to it, there is still prejudice in America that can be seen everyday.