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What was racism like in the 1930’s? (Taran Singh)

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What was racism like in the 1930’s? (Taran Singh)

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Racism During the 1930’s wasn’t good for African Americans at the time. First of America at the time was undergoing the Great Depression. The Great Depression caused the unemployment rate of male workers in thirteen large cities to be “...31.7 percent for whites and 52 percent for blacks.” as stated by Deborah Mercer. This rate of unemployment with African Americans also had caused the amount of welfare use to be “...25 percent of the black population was receiving welfare as opposed to 15 percent of whites.” which is also stated by Mercer. Racism also had an impact on the amount of African Americans that became unemployed. Most of the racism consisted of people saying that whites shouldn’t have to be unemployed while African American’s had Jobs.

African Americans’ jobs were mostly taken by white people, “such as porters, elevator operators, trash collectors.” describes Mercer.The African Americans that didn’t lose their jobs had wages which, “...averaged 30 percent less than for whites.” which is stated by Mercer. This decrease in the wages, along with unemployment between African Americans caused the overall experience of the great depression to be harsher terms for African Americans than whites. This unfairness of the current African American working status caused African Americans to successfully campaign boycotts towards white business that didn’t hire African Americans. Mercer states, “Such campaigns were conducted mainly in the ghettos of cities such as Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, and especially Harlem, where blacks picketed before stores carrying signs with the motto ‘Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work.’ “ This is the aftermath of racism during the 1930’s.

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What effect did the communist party have on desegregating the workplace and making fair conditions in the workplace in the 1930’s? (Hunter Bartley)

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What effect did the communist party have on desegregating the workplace and making fair conditions in the workplace in the 1930’s? (Hunter Bartley)

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During the 1930’s there was a birth of the communist party in America. These was essentially a battle between which was a superior complex communism or capitalism. Now the US as a whole was mainly a capitalist country in a whole. However many places the everising Communist Party of America rose. They were active in places such as Washington State and Alabama. This affected the desegregation movement and African American rights. One goal of this Communist Party of America was equality as they believed that segregation like this only benefited the elite. Although they only believed it could be achieved through the fall of capitalism. One thing they did to attempt to achieve there goal was actually a famous case in Alabama; The Scottsbarrow Rape Case.”In the 1930s the Party helped publicize the Scottsboro Boys rape case. In 1931, nine young African American men were charged with the rape of two white women in Scottsboro, Alabama. The men were charged, tried, and sentenced to death for the crimes. The case was based on false testimony and the men were essentially convicted because of their race.”(Pinckney) This started a movement that led to other communists following suit.

The communists in Seattle used their newspaper, the voice of action, to help publicize and bring attention to where else this is happening. “In 1933 the paper published a series of articles about a similar court case where a black man had been wrongly accused of murdering a white railroad conductor in Portland, Oregon, and sentenced to death. This, the Ted Jordan case, attracted regional attention thanks to the publicity provided by the paper. The Party’s legal defense organization was responsible for the appeal processes.” This party then continued to push for this led by; Revels Cayton, they marched on Oregon with over two-hundred people until the governor met their request. This greatly improved the conditions of colored people there and in the surrounding areas.

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What were some of the many propaganda used to make African Americans during the 1930s to be seen as less moral. (Taran Singh and Hunter Bartley)

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What were some of the many propaganda used to make African Americans during the 1930s to be seen as less moral. (Taran Singh and Hunter Bartley)

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During the 30’s and 40’s it was the height of wartime and many countries tried to gain an edge over another with the use of wartime propaganda. The Germans were the worst of this they would play both sides and had no opinion, and just did whatever would turn people against each other. Such as how they used, the French’s use of colored troops against them and saying that they have committed crimes against the German people this got so bad that an American senator, Hitchcock, said this “I hold in my hand a printed circular called ‘The Horror of the Rhine.’ It purports to be a complaint of the German people living in the German territory occupied by French troops... It is charged that the black African troops of France, whether Negro or Senegalese, were committing unspeakable crimes against German women and children.” Germans then would turn the tables and persecute the white men of America to sway public opinion of them in light of their war effort. Like a leaflet handed out in allied Italy which depicts a white American male chasing after him with a pipe in which on it it says “Race War Fleeing Negro, who is already hurt, is chased by Detroit mobsters. Lead pipe (center) was later used in finishing him off.”

Other Parts of racist propaganda during the 30’s and 40’s occurred in America. One of the many racist propaganda used was in the United States was blackface. Blackface was used as propaganda in the 19th century by , “...white performers in blackface played characters that perpetuated a range of negative, belittling and demeaning stereotypes about African American people.” (The Historical). Blackface was represented when, “...actors mostly applied burnt cork or shoe polish, they wore tattered clothing to mimic and mock people who were slaves.” (The Historical). It is also said that blackface was most likely made by white northern men, and was used to entertain other white people. It was also said, “The widespread negative, demeaning and stereotypical portrayals of African Americans happened during the same period when southern state legislatures passed 'black codes' to restrict the behavior of former slaves and other African Americans.” (The Historical). During the 30’s and onward, there was a decline in blackface, but it was still apparent.

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