https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22 GI bill en-us 2018-09-13 15:34:21 UTC 2025-10-01 14:27:47 UTC hello@padlet.com crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/280910318 GI Bill
suburbia
housing
school
white flight
mortgages
intergenerational wealth
upward mobility
deed covenants (look further)
restrictive covenants
VA
Affirmative Action


]]> 2018-09-13 15:51:41 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/280910318 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/280925577 -former American Legion commander Harry Colmery said about the purpose of the bill: (returning men) "should be aided in reaching that place, position, or status which they had normally expected to achieve, and probably would have achieved, had their war service not interrupted their careers" (quoted in Keene, 2001, "Combat Veterans") -ensuring African Americans return to their former place, position, and status (4)

- Although, technically Black vets could have benefitted from the GI Bill, colleges would not take them, banks would not grant them loans, and job training programs would also discriminate. (2)

-African Americans blocked from "intergenerational mobility." (6) - the point about multiple generations is important. Wealth builds up overtime, reinforcing the economic privileges and standards of different races. The root of that can be traced to the GI bill.

-The frustration of African American veterans barred from participating in the postwar economic boom became a major motivating factor in the Civil Rights Movement. (7)

-could not get money from their homes to go to college

-was the only race neutral policy at the time, therefore it operated in a vacuum

Katznelson states, “There was no greater instrument for widening an already huge racial gap in the postwar America than the GI Bill.

David Onsknt notes that the lack of blac (VA) counselors was particularly marked in deep South, with only a dozen counselors for all of Georgia and Alabama, and none in Mississippi.

-detroit wall?]]> 2018-09-13 16:14:26 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/280925577 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281101132 Did the baby boom affect African Americans and their success in others ways than just the creation of suburbia?

How did the absence of the bill set African Americans behind from whites

Was the Bill an intentional way for either white people or the government to create segregation or was it a coincidence?]]> 2018-09-14 00:47:19 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281101132 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281101150 The government was intentional in the segregational motive of the GI bill

black people did not contribute as much to the baby boom as white people. (because of the Bill)

The bill can be related to many of the current struggles of the African American population today. (education, job opportunity, wealth) ]]> 2018-09-14 00:47:25 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281101150 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281109738 2018-09-14 01:34:59 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281109738 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281110880 1) (graph)  http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/07/biggest-share-of-whites-in-u-s-are-boomers-but-for-minority-groups-its-millennials-or-younger/

3) the progressive: how African Americans were scored by the GI bill https://progressive.org/dispatches/how-african-american-wwii-veterans-were-scorned-by-the-g-i-b

5) Smithsonian art museum article http://americanexperience.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/After-the-War-Blacks-and-the-GI-Bill.pdf

6) demos: how the GI bill left out African Americans https://www.demos.org/blog/11/11/13/how-gi-bill-left-out-african-americans

7) Khan Academy Article https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/postwarera/postwar-era/a/african-americans-women-and-the-gi-bill

8)How the GI bill shunted blacks into vocational training https://www.jstor.org/stable/25073543?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

9) The New Republic article https://newrepublic.com/article/144676/affirmative-action-reparations

10) 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 https://www.jstor.org/stable/3132498?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

11) Never a level playing field: blacks and the GI bill https://www.jstor.org/stable/2962479?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents

12) The Color of Law

13) Homeownership and wealth https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/homeownership-as-a-key-driver-of-wealth_us_58f66a5de4b0c892a4fb7319]]> 2018-09-14 01:41:46 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281110880 jwolf70_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281358832 Adler, Jerry, and Karen Springen. 1998. "Back at the Ranch." Newsweek 132, no. 15: 58. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed September 14, 2018).]]> 2018-09-14 15:12:00 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281358832 jwolf70_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281365701
Farley, Reynolds, and Karl E. Taeuber. "Population Trends and Residential Segregation since 1960." Science 159, no. 3818 (1968): 953-56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1723557.]]> 2018-09-14 15:23:43 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281365701 jwolf70_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281368671 Includes GI bill and concept of "white flight"
(4)

]]> 2018-09-14 15:29:28 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281368671 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281373055 The GI bill and it's influence on segregation and the upward mobility of white people]]> 2018-09-14 15:37:23 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281373055 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281384448 Signed by President Rosevelt in 1944

"provided financial support in the form of cash stipends for schooling, low-interest mortgages, job skills training, low-interest loans, and unemployment benefits." (2)
 
"Though the program was federally funded, its implementation was directed at the state and local level by the Veterans Administration (VA), which was almost entirely white and closely affiliated with the pro-segregation American Legion." (7)

the Veterans Administration mortgages paid for five million new homes for former military members and their families; interest rates associated with the GI Bill were capped at modest rates; and down payments were waived for loans of up to 30 years. (9)

-the black press had celebrated it as history in the making because the bill was "race neutral" and "colorblind" (find primary source?)

most expansive set of social benefits ever extended by the federal government through a single program. (9)

"The primary crafter of the Bill of the GI Bill was the Committee on World War Legislation in the House of Representatives. That committee was chaired by John Rankin of Mississippi, a notorious racist." - "He and other Southern Democrats meticulously designed the GI Bill to exist within the discriminatory framework of Jim Crow." (9)

]]> 2018-09-14 15:56:51 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/281384448 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282061485 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=130&v=r2g45_AOp1o

]]> 2018-09-17 00:25:23 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282061485 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282065601 -Although black veterans technically go to college cheaper under the GI Bill, most colleges discriminated against African Americans, and they were rejected from many good schools.
.
"VA job counselors frequently steered African American veterans who applied for tuition benefits towards vocational training instead of university courses. In some cases, black applicants were told that they needed no further education, since the job market had no place for blacks as skilled workers--only as menial laborers." (7)

college admission process selection

-980 "by 1950,  43 percent of white veterans has used the GI bill for Education or training or some sort, while for black veterans, that figure reaches 49 percent." 
although this may look equal on the face, the quality of the training and the accessible benefits were skewed for African Americans

]]> 2018-09-17 00:51:57 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282065601 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282065860 2018-09-17 00:53:55 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282065860 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282067682 -today, we have many soldiers in Iraq and in Afghanistan, many of whom are black or Latino. We need to be careful with how we treat them when they come back, because our actions could reverberate into future generations just like our actions did back in the 40s/50s

-baby boom]]> 2018-09-17 01:04:15 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282067682 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282647797 I have decided to focus on the GI bill granted to all veterans after World War two. Although technically the bill was race neutral, in reality African Americans could not access their benefits from the bill due to other explicitly racist laws and implicitly racist biases. The bill allowed for the growth and development of a large, successful, white middle class, leaving black people behind. 

Working Thesis: The GI bill, which catalyzed upward mobility and financial stability for WW2 veterans, appeared race neutral on paper, yet in practice African Americans were left behind and denied their financial benefits due to explicitly racist laws and implicitly racist biases in society. ]]> 2018-09-18 00:28:53 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282647797 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282954715 Introduction:

History of the bill/"guarantees" of the bill
.
.
.
Working Thesis: Although the GI bill granted to WW2 veterans seemed race neutral on paper, in practice African Americans were left behind and denied their rightful benefits due to explicitly racist laws and implicitly racist biases in society.

^the results of which we still see today
Body Arguments:

Housing
topic sentence: The GI bill catalyzed the development of suburbia and stable homes, yet black veterans were left out of these thriving new neighborhoods due to bank and housing discrimination.

Evidence/other points

History
Segregation:
-starting in the 1930's, the government officials institutionalized the national appraisal system where race was as much a factor in real estate assessment as the condition of the property
-as a consequence most mortgages went to suburbanizing America.
-redlining definition/examples (The color of law?)

-Banks and mortgages
-between 1934 and 1962 the government underwrote 120 billion dollars in new housing. Less than two percent went to non-whites.
-banks were not compelled to grant loans to African Americans. Most banks refused them outright for racial reasons, or created strategic barriers that were hard to get by. (example)
-even if a bank was maybe willing to grant a loan to a black veteran, they could not reside in certain areas due to redlining

Veterans returning


-build up of suburbia.
-nothing changes:
-African Americans excluded from suburbia- suburban restricted covenants
--an Ebony magazine survey found that 3,000 VA home loans had been issued to veterans. 2 of these loans when to black veterans, even though they took up half the population.



Results
-without the intergenerational wealth that a home brings to a family, the wealth gap between white families and black families widened as time passed (today)
-families could not benefit from the wealth of a home -could not pass that down to kids
-African Americans blocked from "intergenerational mobility."

-If a black veteran somehow did manage to get into a suburban neighborhood, they faced rampant racism from the surrounding neighbors. (vandalization, etc.) (find specific example!)
-home ownership rates for black people dropped below 40%

without the wealth a home brings, it is harder to pay for one's education

College
topic sentence: Although black veterans could technically go to college under the GI bill, there were discriminatory factors which resulted in black veterans recieving insufficient educations compared to whites

Evidence/other points:

-large institutions held quotas for how many black students were to be admitted (find example)

- due to the separate-but-equal which was in effect during this time, black veterans were mainly restricted to black colleges. These colleges reflected all separate but equal standards: small, underfunded, and highly unprepared for the influx of black GI students.
-these colleges did not offer a wide-enough variety of courses, and especially did not teach courses of high American demand. (engineering, etc.)
-find specific account or example
-20,000 to 50,000 black students were turned away because of the lack of space

-some black veterans did not even have a sufficient education to attend college in the first place. Separate but equal high schools did not measure up to white ones and grant the proper/necessary education. (find example)

--Va office/ being turned away:
-these conditions turned many black people towards vocational training. Even if they got into college, they had to go to the VA office to get their tuition expenses approved, and often the VA would direct black veterans down the vocational training route.

Job training
topic sentence: Vocational training, which was also covered by the bill, could have been a smart way for black veterans climb the social ladder to obtain jobs, yet the programs provided little to no success.

Evidence/other points:
-In the post-war boom, skilled and semi-skilled jobs required no college degree. Phone company jobs/ electric company jobs, etc. were plentiful and could lead you to the white middle class. This is why the vocational training could have been beneficial.
-Instead of training black veterans in these highly paid skilled positions, the white officials in charge of job training directed black people towards unskilled cheap ones.
-86% of skilled jobs went to whites while 92% of unskilled jobs went to blacks
-black veterans were offered jobs as Pullman porters, servicing white train passengers in luxury train cars. Essentially, they were servants. They worked 12 hour days and 6 day weeks
-The Bill gave birth to a large vocational education industry, yet vocational schools were segregated. These schools received complaints about little to no training, and served only to collect GI bill tuition.

Combination/cycle
topic sentence:


Conclusion:





possible last point??: today, we have many soldiers in Iraq and in Afghanistan, many of whom are black or Latino. We need to be careful with how we treat them when they come back, because our actions could reverberate further into future generations just like our actions did back in the 40s/50s]]> 2018-09-18 14:57:06 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/282954715 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/283194172 -AA vets were restricted to black colleges due to the separate but equal doctrine in place: Tuskegee University, Morehouse College Georgia, Spelman College, Howard
-These schools were "small, chronically underfunded, unprepared for the huge influx of GI bill students, and only provide limited course of study." (no engineering options) (9)

-Jim Crow laws required segregated education. -especially in southern states

- Often times, black people were steered away from college by the VA and steered straight to vocational training (look into that)

-when black people got into college, they had to go to the VA and have them approve tuition and living expenses. Often times, the VA would steer them down a worse path instead of sending them to college. (8)

-12 percent of black veterans went to college compared to 28 percent of white  (9)

-quotas at many institutions limited enrollment (9)

-between 20,000 and 50,000 black veterans were turned away because of the lack of space (Keith Olson)

-Black veterans often did not have the high school credentials needed to go to college in the first place because separate but equal high schools did not measure up to white ones. (8)

-In 1950, 70% of black adults had a seventh grade education of below.

-only 100 colleges were available for black people (10)

-Among these colleges, those in only seven states offered post baccalaureate training and no institution offered an accredited doctoral or engineering program. (10)

- small: a survey of historically black colleges in 1945 found that 45 percent of institutions enrolled less than 250 students, while 92 percent of the institutions enrolled less than 1,000 students. (10)

-enrollment in white or nonsegregated schools was nearly 1,500 in 1950, while for blacks it was 729. (U.S dep. of health, education and welfare biennial survey)

-"tuition aid was little help to blacks who could not enter college either because of overcrowding or inadequate preparation for college level work."

-Budgets for black schools were about 1/4 compared to white schools. In Mississippi, 1950, black schools received $32.55 while white schools received $122.93 (11)

]]> 2018-09-18 23:24:55 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/283194172 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/283194253 -banks would not make loans for mortgages in black neighborhoods (look into that) (5)

-with the start of the baby boom, suburbia was being built up (look into that). they faced rampant racism if they tried to buy into suburban neighborhoods (look into that) -homes vandalized or set ablaze

-- in 1960, not a single resident of Levittown, New York, was black (7)

-Suburban Neighborhoods has restrictive covenants -(look into) which banned African American families from purchasing homes in their subdivisions-white flight (7)

-an Ebony magazine survey found that 3,000 VA home loans had been issued to veterans. 2 of these loans when to black veterans, even though they took up half the population.

-"The VA was not allowed to make loans directly, .. but could serve only as a guarantor, an official cosigner. " (8)

--"nothing compelled banks to make loans in the first place. Most lending institutions of the era either created excessive barriers for blacks seeking home loans, or refused them outright for racial reasons, leaving many veterans unable to get a mortgage. And even the few institutions that would consider issuing the loans often rejected applications from black veterans on the basis of redlining." (8)

-home ownership rates for blacks dropped below 40% (8)]]> 2018-09-18 23:25:22 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/283194253 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/283194386 - Unemployment benefits from the GI bill: were supposed to receive one year of unemployment compensation. Post war, blacks were only hired for low-wage jobs. ( below average substinence levels) when black people turned them down, the unemployment benefits were taken away by the VA. (look into that)

-a lower than expected college enrollment for black people drove more people towards vocational training. 

- In the post-war boom, skilled and semi-skilled jobs required no college degree. Phone company jobs/ electric company jobs, etc. were plentiful and could lead you to the white middle class. (8)

-instead, the white officials in charge of job training directed black people away from these highly paid skilled jobs, and instead towards unskilled cheap ones. 

-86% of skilled jobs went to whites while 92% of unskilled jobs went to blacks (8)

-black veterans were offered jobs as Pullman porters, servicing white train passengers in luxury train cars. Essentially, they were servants. (8)

-They worked 12 hour days and 6 day weeks. 

-The Bill gave birth to a large vocational education industry, yet vocational schools were segregated. These schools received complaints about little to no training, and served only to collect GI bill tuition. (8) 

- If black veterans did manage to have economic success, they faced retaliatory violence. In Georgia, black veterans were lynched for using their bill profits to build stable farms. (11)]]> 2018-09-18 23:26:04 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/283194386 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/283973107 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33RvaOZ-HzY]]> 2018-09-20 15:17:13 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/283973107 crosenblum20211_1 https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/284433139 https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/19/498536077/interactive-redlining-map-zooms-in-on-americas-history-of-discrimination]]> 2018-09-21 15:38:23 UTC https://padlet.com/crosenblum20211_1/n0rhm2xsxt22/wish/284433139