Do You Think Katznelson's When Affirmative Action Was White

In the article The Construction of the Ghetto by Massey and Denton, there are several policies and practices that still has its effect on racial structure today. Among the several practices and policies are the Government Issue (GI) Bill for veterans and housing loans. At a political view, the GI Bill for veterans helped them buy houses at a lower price due to their contribution in the war. Since White veterans have the GI Bill, they moved out to the suburbs during 1940-1970, which was during the time of suburbanization. Because Black veterans did not receive the GI Bill, they were unable to move out and buy houses. This effect is still present today, considering that in the statistics, Blacks are less likely than Whites to own houses.

Black or Negro doctors were not common in America during the first half of the century: 500, or about 2.6%, of New York City’s 19,000 physicians were Negro in 1963 (Curtis 64). New York City and Chicago are major cities in the United States, they also are similar when it came to population. It is to say that since New York City only had a few Black Physicians during the time then Chicago reflected the same range of numbers when it came to their black physicians. In fact, African-Americans had only made up “3% of all professional workers in [New York City] in 1950”(Curtis 64). African American women were allowed to work in the medical professions but they were mostly limited to the nursing

In Closing the Gap or Widening the Divide: The Effects of the G.I. Bill and World War II on the Educational Outcomes of Black Americans (NBER Working Paper No. 9044), authors Sarah Turner and John Bound conclude that the G.I. Bill had a markedly different effect on educational attainment for black and white veterans after the war. While the introduction of generous student aid through the G.I. Bill held the promise of significantly reducing black-white gaps in educational opportunity and long-run economic outcomes, the G.I. Bill exacerbated rather than narrowed the economic and educational differences between blacks and whites among men from the South.

Throughout the 1960’s medical health care was not as advanced and thorough like it is today. During the 1900’s, families were not as informed of their medical records than today due to a breakthrough in medical technology (Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks). In past years, hospital experience turned out to be quite lengthy stays for some people and had given a redundant insult with no respect to a patient. Some people had not been as beneficial as white people have. These problems should not even exist, it is just physical discrimination against people of different color.

With the coming of World War II, African Americans were arguably elevated to a higher standing in society due to the total war effort. But what part would Presidential and Military action take in this advancement since their duty is to protect their citizens? And would the efforts from these offices triumph over the racial prejudice that ruled American society, and most importantly, would their legacy last for an improved quality of life for a good portion of the US population. With these questions in mind, Executive Orders No. 8802 and 9981 as well as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s call for increased admission of African Americans in the Armed Forces alone did not create change in social perception of Black US citizens, at times highlighting barriers to social equality, but did sow the roots for economic opportunity and in turn gave

During American involvement in the war, African Americans were listed and reenlisted on the military draft at higher rates than any other nationalities including whites and Latin-Americans (Westheider 9). As a result, more African Americans than any othe r minority fought and died in combat. In addition, they constantly faced racism. One militant protested forcefully against the unfair conditions: “You should see for yourself how the black man is being treated over here and the ay we are dying. When it comes to rank, we are left out. When it comes to special privileges, we are left out. When it comes to patrols, perataions and so forth, we are first” (Gallagher). According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., black youths represented an unequal share of early draftees and faced a significantly higher chance of seeing combat. “Rumors abounded that the U.S. government were using the Vietnam War as a form of genocide. Money was being pumped into Vietnam instead of poor black communities in America” (Gallegher).

Military until after WWII) was primarily composed of southerners, in which the ideas of slavery and segregation resonated throughout the ranks because of the old ideas of the confederates that occupied the south during the Civil War. This made it nearly impossible for black men to join the Airforce. In fact, in 1925 the Army War College conducted a study of black troops in World War I that concluded black men were mentally inferior compared to Whiteman and not capable of following orders and achieving victories in combat. However, in 1939 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attacked the military’s segregationist policies. In 1941 the NAACP turned to the court system to help fight the racist policy.

In Ira Katznelson’s book, When Affirmative Action Was White , Katznelson argues for the implementation of affirmative action to decrease the marginalization of African Americans. Although he supports its execution, he’s also the first to address the faults within the system, that are in need of correction in order to see greater results of decreased racism. Katznelson starts off reviewing parts of America’s history, more specifically, times when government programs were instilled to better the lives of supposedly all Americans. These programs such as, the New Deal, Fair Deal, Great Society, social security, and many others were thought to be aimed at helping all, when in actuality, they were only there to serve white Americans.

While African Americans were allowed in the armed forces they still faced racism, and some thought that the draft laws were favoring middle and upper class whites. Although the draft laws were not intended to be racist, they made it significantly harder for blacks to be exempt from service. For example, “…eligible men from the middle and upper class could normally find ways of avoiding service, or at least service in Vietnam, meaning the burden of the draft fell on working class whites and minorities. Consequently, African Americans were drafted in disproportionately higher numbers than were whites” (Hall 150). However, after their enlistments were up, more than two thirds of eligible African Americans chose to re-enlist while only around 12 percent of whites chose to remain in the armed forces. Yet, as much as blacks reenlisted in the military, many thought that they were the last to receive promotions. Lionel Anderson wrote to the Black Panther, “Black people are the last to be promoted, as far as rank goes” (Hall 159). In reality, the number of blacks in the officer corps in Vietnam was small, only about 5 percent. Yet, the Vietnam War offered African Americans opportunities they had never had before and used them to change the military in a way not done previously.

White Americans living in the post segregation era believed that African Americans were lower on the social order and did not deserve to share equality under the law; equality could be shared with one group and not the other. This type of reasoning is what lead to mass discrimination within the job market and dispersal of federal aid (Franklin 64). According to Franklin, millions of African Americans were turned away from receiving aid during the New Deal. Policy makers created distinctions between who would be regarded as equals and who would not. Equality was for White-Americans and there was not enough equality to go around for the Negros. For example, The Federal Government gave large industries contracts during World War Two, after receiving the contract from the Federal Government, the industries would then openly state that they did not practice equal employment. The committee that oversaw fair employment did not have enough power or government support to enforce the fair employment rules. Secondly, World War Two was a war for racial freedom overseas and America could not even deal with the race war going on within its own back yard (Franklin 89). The military was still segregated and

Blacks were also significantly discriminated against when they applied to join the army. The “IQ” tests were completely biased as the questions completely favored the whites, thus limiting their ability to join the war. Racial tensions changed American society as the two ethnic groups grew farther apart and tensions worsened relationships between the two

First and foremost, it is necessary to acknowledge that racial disparities in healthcare exist between African-Americans and other races. African-Americans are dying at a faster rate than their white counterparts (Mays et. al, 2007). Ultimately, this social problem leads

This was one of the things that is always in front of your culture. With all the gains of the abolition of slavery and the three Reconstruction amendments to the Constitution, Jim Crow segregation was in all fiber of American society since the 1890s. The service was no exception, black man volunteered for duty or

The military began to allow blacks to join, which allowed them to escape economic depression as well as farming in regions such as the South and the Midwest. But, despite this grand opportunity, throughout the 1940’s there was still segregation present throughout the United States. There were individual black regiments that had white commanders, and each sector was trained separately from other white soldiers. To begin with, just like the women many military services, such as the Navy, gave blacks the worst jobs to perform on their ships and the Marines did not even accept them due to their skin color. Even on the mainland, many companies refused to let blacks work in factories as many were run by racist labor unions. Many white workers even went on strike to prevent the hiring of black workers, as people claimed to feel “unsafe” and said that the black man did not deserve to work the same jobs as the white man. But as time progressed, skin color did not begin to matter as the whole country was being targeted by enemy forces and all armed forces were needed to repel attacking armies. Discrimination between the two races began breaking down when the 1940 Selective Service Act was put into place, allowing blacks to join branches such as the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard. Eventually they were allowed into leadership positions, and claimed many victories being the most

Blacks were usually unemployed, but when they found work, they had the lowest-paid jobs one could encounter at the time. Blacks had segregated health cares from those of whites. Usually, their hospitals and facilities were in poorer conditions and did not offer as much as whites’. They also lived in separated and much poorer areas of major cities and towns. Although southern whites not only discriminated blacks, they were the most affected since they couldn’t do anything at all with whites. Any black person could be sentenced to jail just for being in a white-only area. These areas included parks, hospitals, living urbanizations, bathrooms, and drinking fountains among many