The problems of the Great Depression
affected virtually every group of Americans. No group was harder hit than African
Americans, however. By 1932, approximately half of black Americans were out of work. In
some Northern cities, whites called for blacks to be fired from any jobs as long as there
were whites out of work. Racial violence again became more common, especially in the
South. Lynchings, which had declined to eight in 1932, surged to 28 in 1933.
Although most African Americans traditionally voted Republican, the election of President
Franklin Roosevelt began to change voting patterns. Roosevelt entertained African-American
visitors at the White House and was known to have a number of black advisors. According to
historian John Hope Franklin, many African Americans were excited by the energy with which
Roosevelt began tackling the problems of the Depression and gained "a sense of
belonging they had never experienced before" from his fireside chats.
Still, discrimination occurred in New Deal housing and
employment projects, and President Roosevelt, for political reasons, did not back all of
the legislation favored by such groups as the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP). When the U.S. entered World War II, labor leader A. Philip
Randolph threatened to organize a march on Washington to protest job discrimination in the
military and other defense-related activities. In response, President Roosevelt issued
Executive Order 8802, stating that all persons, regardless of race, creed, color, or
national origin, would be allowed to participate fully in the defense of the United
States.
To find additional sources on race relations in the 1930s
and 1940s, search American Memory
using such terms as prejudice, discrimination, segregation, Afro-Americans, and race
relations.
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