This allowed many Black Americans to get jobs and played a major role in the country’s war effort. As a result of the boom, the number of unemployed black Americans fell from 937,000 to 152,000. 48% of the black population was urban at the end of the war and jobs in the cities paid more than those in the country allowing Black Americans to be paid more than ever before. This shows an improvement of the position of Black Americans in society. Voting rights were also improved during this time period.
How far do you agree with the statement that the position of black Americans changes little during the period 1945-1955? It may be argued that during the period 1945-55 the position of the black Americans changed unnoticeable, yet there had been certain factors that in longer term resulted in improving the position of white Americans in a big scale. The improvements consisted of army. Truman desegregated the armed forces in 1948 and appointed the first black federal judge. This meant that the American workers left their jobs to join the army, which created many job opportunities for black Americans, which were needed especially in the defence industries, which now grew in importance as they had to make supplies for the Army such as guns and tanks.
WW1 was a turning point in increasing racial equality between black and white Americans to a lesser extent. During WW1 black people made contributions to the war effort by moving north to work in factories making war goods. However violence occurred where they moved as competition with the whites for jobs was rife. In the short term with competition and violence intensifying, the Ku Klux Klan restarted in the south and lynchings became common. It would seem that racial equality had not improved, but worsened.
How far do you agree that the years 1945-55 saw only limited progress in improving the status of African Americans? The years 1945-55 can be described as ‘seeds of change’ in improving the African American people’s position in society as their lives saw slight improvements however nothing drastic happened that changed their economic, political and social status immediately in America. Before 1945, during the second world war, conditions of life for black American’s was slightly improving in the northern states with there being less institutional racism and more equal job opportunities with acceptable pay for everyone. However in the south, conditions were very different; Jim Crow Laws meant that deep racial divides were being enforced throughout most states. Segregation was seen as lawful due to the Plessy vs. Ferguson case saying that ‘separate but equal’ was how they should live their lives.
In what ways were the conditions different for the African Americans in the north and south in 1945? After the Second World War had ended, black Americans that were fighting for freedom and justice from Germany and Japan, found that they had return to their country that was overridden with discrimination and racism in 1945. They treated as second-class citizens. The Black American was unable to neither integrate with the mainstream of American society nor become independent farmers. However, generally the Northern blacks were somewhat better off than the Southern blacks in 1945.
How far had the status of Hispanic and Native Americans improved by the late 1960s? Black people were not the only racial minority that was discriminated in America. Both Hispanic and Native Americans were victims of discrimination and poverty, but inspired by black activists radicals from both communities became organised in the 1960s to fight for an equal America. There were several factors which affected both communities such as, poverty, lack of education and little opportunities for employment. Hispanic Americans predominantly worked in the farming industry within California, but were only employed seasonally during harvests.
Over 1 million blacks joined the army. Half a million men migrated to the north for work in factories, and unemployment fell from 937,000 to 151,000 by 1945. Also, a third of the black population were able to afford living in the north by 1950 due to its industry booming, and 48% of blacks were urban. Employment
Railroads were being put down really fast, there were many inventions being invented, ideas were being inspired and they were moving away from the old traditional way of the Europeans. Many were factory workers living in urban towns and cities, and the wealth was evenly distributed. It was popular for northern to live in the cities. In the South, most white worked on farms while the wealthy were plantation owners. What made it most interesting was the fact that half the population was African-American who were enslaved.
Following the Second World War there was an economic boom. Most of the money made from things like industry went to business men and upper class citizens who were able to buy shares and stocks. While many people like the rich got richer and the poor made a step up but life for the black Americans stayed the same to an extent. One reason and the most important reason that black Americans did not share in the economic boom was that they were particularly hit badly by the problems in the country as they had always done the least skilled jobs. They had jobs such as railroad track layers, brick layers, grave diggers; fruit, vegetable and cotton pickers, doormen, elevator operators.Almost 1 million black farm workers lost their jobs, many moved to the cities where they shared similar experiences with the immigrants; low paid jobs and poor housing conditions.In the northern states, decent jobs went to the white population and discrimination was just as common in the north as it was in the South and many black families lived in ghettoes in the cities in very poor conditions.
Many of the Latinos that came to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina came to rebuild the city. They saw a great opportunity for work and of course they were right. New Orleans needed to be rebuilt and the Latinos were just the people for the job. After the storm many lower income families could not afford to move back to New Orleans and therefore were not able to rebuild the city themselves. The Lower Ninth Ward (a mostly black neighborhood before Katrina) only has a fourth of its former residents.