Ira Katznelson’s book When Affirmative Action Was White is an untold story about the racial inequality that plunged to the lowest level ever in the twentieth century. Southern Blacks faced racial discrimination during the New Deal and Fair Deal eras in the 1930’s and 1940’s especially when it came to employment. The former south state slaves saw little change when aid programs were organized by the New Deal agencies. A new government policy called affirmative action were established by President Johnson. These programs did almost nothing to advance the civil rights for African-Americans because the South couldn’t vote. The whites were the ones who benefited from these programs. Katznelson argues about the historical justification for continuing affirmative action plans today. He claims that these programs not only discriminated against blacks, but led to widening the gap between white and black Americans.
Analyzing Katznelson’s book he uses a wide variety of…show more content… He address social policies that widen the gap between white and black Americans. Congress discriminated a lot of blacks in the south from opportunities that were available to the whites. We have discussed that discrimination refers to actual behavior toward another group in class and involves excluding or restricting members of a racial group from benefits or rewards. This book is based on racial inequality the blacks faced in the New Deal era. The blacks in the south were excluded from receiving Social Security because it restricted agricultural workers and domestic services and majority of them were employed as agricultural and domestic workers. They were also denied to receive benefits because of the Agricultural Act and other programs that were implemented. Racial inequality and discrimination is a long term social construction because it explains every disparity we see in
