American Dream Essay Ethnic minorities have achieved the American dream to an extent. Democracy has been achieved since voting and registering is at its highest ever amongst ethnic groups and ethnic groups are also more represented in congress. Capitalism has been achieved since income has increased for all ethnic groups. Equality has been achieved since there has been an increase in graduation rates amongst ethnic groups. However, ethnic minorities are still under-represented in congress, whites still register and vote more than any other ethnic group and unemployment is high amongst minorities.
Millions of men and women entered military service and saw parts of the world they would likely never have seen otherwise. The labor demands of war industries caused millions more Americans to move--largely to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts where most defense plants located. When World War II ended, the United States was in better economic condition than any other country in the world. Even the 300,000 combat deaths suffered by Americans paled in comparison to any other major belligerent. Building on the economic base left after the war, American society became more affluent in the postwar years than most Americans could have imagined in their wildest dreams before or during the war.
The War Labor Bond outlawed unequal pay to whites and non-whites doing equal work. Before the war, the African American population had been mainly southern, rural, and agricultural; within a few years, a substantial percentage of African Americans were northern, urban, and industrial. While discrimination in the workplace was hardly eliminated, twice as many blacks held skilled jobs at the end of the war as at the beginning. The northward migration of African Americans accelerated the rising demands for racial equality. As nearly 750,000 blacks relocated to northern cities, many sensed the possibility of political power for the first time in their lives.
To what extent was the Federal Government responsible for improving the status of black people in the United States in the years 1945-64? The Federal Government was partially responsible for improving the status of black people, although individual activists are also partially responsible. The Federal Government is headed by the President, but also comprises of congress and the Supreme Court, which each had a role to play in dismantling segregation. Although the presidency and the Supreme Court would play a larger role in helping blacks than congress, due to the nature of what the people in congress believed and wanted to achieve. In the spring of 1946, Irene Morgan, a black woman, boarded a bus in Virginia to go to Baltimore, Maryland.
Treatment of African Americans as second class citizens was still bad regarding economics in the north, but not as severe as in the south. For example, a mass migration of brought two million blacks to northern cities to seek out better economic opportunities. Also, unemployment in the north fell from almost one million to around 150000 by 1945. This was due to the creation of jobs in factories during World War 2, when it became easier for blacks to get jobs (although not as easy as it was for whites). In the
The Deprivation Freed Blacks Faced In between the years 1820-1860, political, economic and social changes were occurring in America. Free African Americans continued to expand throughout different cities and states. In fact “in the year of 1820, there were 233,504 freed African Americans living in the United States in which free blacks were accounted for only 2.4 percent of the American population.” (Clark-Hine, C-Hine, and Harrold). However, by the year of 1860 the percentage of free African Americans rapidly increased in many cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia and Richmond. Because of the expansion of free African Americans, many white people feared the thought of competing with another races.
This shows that with the commencement of the War against Poverty, the United States was slowly improving the lives of American citizens. The novel The Other America by Michael Harrington was significant during the 1960’s because it revealed the existence of an impoverished class in the United States that had gone unseen for years. It had also influenced the War on Poverty that drastically dropped the poverty rate in the
According to Professor McDonald’s research at George Mason University, “Black voter turnout increased 4.9 percentage points from 2004”. This is a large increase possibly due to Africans becoming more educated about current issues in the government with the desire to be elected in legislature. Thus, more blacks now are running for office, holding high positions in American government and are being represented. One major example of a famous African American politician is, Senator Barack Obama who was an African American man that ran for president and now made history as our first black president. Moreover, due to positive and negative effects overtime, more Africans are now voting and on a change in California’s policies are in effect.
4 These circumstances demonstrated the power the black communities had during the war knowing the nation could not afford to put production on hold. Many black civil rights organizations were formed including NAACP and the FEPC. These organizations took advantage of this need for black workers as well as protests against the government knowing FDR could not afford to sacrifice the image of equality and freedom throughout the nation and became an intricate part in advancements for African-American civil rights. These threatening protests were known as, “the March on Washington”. These movements became very successful in implementing more civil rights for
At this time people wanted to spend their money instead of save it for hard times. Society’s hourly pay rate nearly double and tripled during this era. War factories transitioned from making war materials to making civilian supplies, which lead to the boost in our economy at the time. Today, effects of the Baby Boom have many factors that come into play that affect our economy. According to National Academy of Social Insurance “social security faces a financial challenge from the impending retirement of the largest generation in American history, the 76 million persons born in the “baby boom” years, from 1946 through 1964.