Unemployment In WW2

Words: 1222
Pages: 5

In 1865, the United States House of Representatives passed the 13th amendment and abolished slavery. This was the end of the Civil War but the beginning of the war for Civil Rights. Prejudice against African Americans did not dissolve quickly, especially in the South. It is evident in the multiple laws, rules and guidelines enforced by the government. It is especially evident during the era of the New Deal and World War II in which several programs seemed to widen the gap of racial equality. The president, congress, and other organizations enforced rules and regulations that affected non-white Americans in negative ways. Unemployment for blacks was inevitable, justice systems were bias, and federal systems put in place to help the people of …show more content…
Congress passed several post war legislation; one of the most popular was the Government Issue (GI) Bill. It was created to aid veterans in adjusting to life after their service in the war; it did so in several ways. It helped them obtain low mortgages and secure low interest loans. It offered financial support to young men to further their education, in particular with funds to support them while they were in school. Although according to Katznelson, “the GI Bill contained no clauses directly or indirectly excluding blacks or mandating racial discrimination”, there were still ways it excluded black veterans. They required the veteran to apply for benefits in person at their local VA office. Congress gave each state government the power to regulate their VA offices. This opened the opportunity for racially biased VA personnel to control the issuance of benefits, thus making it easier for them to discriminate. Statistically, more African Americans applied for this program than white Americans, though fewer blacks received …show more content…
The United States government did not purposefully exclude African Americans or any other minorities. Rather, the citizens of America during a time of tense racial animosity found loopholes and ambiguities in the new government legislation and policies established during the New Deal Era. In each of these government-mandated acts it is the people who excluded African Americans not the government. Racially biased individuals manipulated systems in order to build up the walls of segregation. The Great Depression was an extremely difficult time in the history of the United States. The New Deal had its shortcomings, but overall it offered options for Americans to overcome the pervasive economic depression of the time. It instilled hope for a better future in the hearts of all Americans, black and