Minorities in the Great Depression
Madison, Katelyn, Madeline
Women
Sought work during the depression because of the declining income and the challenges of feeding and clothing their children. They where accused of "stealing" jobs from men even though the jobs that where available to them where not the ones men sought. New deal programs allowed women to receive lower pay then men.
Unions
As unions grew tensions between rival unions intensified. The American Federation of Labor was dominated by skilled white workers. A group of unions in the federation wanted to expand its membership to include minorities. The AFL merged with the Comitee of Industrail Organizations. In 1936 the leader of the CIO John L . Lewis, susspended the CIO unions and remained it. The CIO then broke away from the AFL and became its chief rival.
Dust Bowl Farmers
In 1930 a severe drought ruined farmers crops in the Great Plains. The dust bowl was created by a combination of great winds, severe drought and poor farming techniques. Thousands of displaced farmers,mostly Okies, migrated to California to find work farming or in a factory. In response the federal government created the Soil Conservation Service in 1935.
African Americans
Racial discrimination continued into the 1930 and blacks where amount the hardest hit by the depression. Black sharecroppers where forced of their land in the south because of cut backs in production due to the dust bowl. President Roosevelt gave little help to southern civil rights leaders. The new deal created programs like the WPA and the CCC which provided low paying jobs for African Americans. African Americans where the last hired and the first to be fired during the depression. Mary McLeod Bethune was a long time leader of improving education and economic opportunities for women. FEPC was created in 1941 and was a committee that assisted minorities. Eleanor Roosevelt created the daughter of the American Revolution (DAR). The DAR arranged for Anderson to sing at the Lincoln memorial.
American Indians
John collier was an advocate of a,erican Indian rights and was the commotioner of burau of Indian affairs. The BIA helped with many deal programs. The BIA act replaced the dawns act and instead of incuraged American Indians to be indpemdant farmers that incouraged them to preserve their culture and returnee lands to the American tribes .
Mexicans
Mexican Americans suffered discrimination in the 1930s, mostly in California and the south west. They were the main source of agricultural labor in the 1920s. However high unemployment and drought occurred during the depression, which cause a dramatic growth in white migrant workers searching for work. Competition for new jobs and discrimination in the new deal programs forced Mexicans to move back south.