African Americans and the New Deal 1933-1945
What was the New Deal? President Franklin Delano Roosevelt “FDR” – 32nd President – 1933 to 1945 Domestic program Specifically, his efforts to . . . end the great depression reform the American economy
A turning point in American race relations The New Deal marked a real turning point in American White Americans attitudes toward Blacks begin to change Members of Roosevelt’s team really wanted to help Blacks Partly for humanitarian reasons Blacks were suffering greatly during the depression Partly for practical political reasons They wanted the support of Black voters
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt Leading advocate of Civil Rights in presidents inner circle A genuine humanitarian concern for the oppressed Cared about improving race relations in America Openly friendly with black people “The conscience of the New Deal”
The Conscience of the New Deal 1939 – Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR The Daughters of the American Revolution They had refused to let a Black woman sing Constitution Hall Marian Anderson Eleanor had her sing at the Lincoln Memorial Eleanor Roosevelt joined the NAACP in 1939
The Black Cabinet FDR appointed race-relations advisors in major federal departments. At first, Roosevelt appointed Southern whites Black leaders protested FDR appoints well-educated Blacks to these posts Mary McLeod Bethune Robert C. Weaver William H. Hastie This so-called “Black cabinet” was chiefly symbolic
African Americans and the Great Depression Blacks suffered greatly during Great Depression “the last hired and first fired.” New Deal programs helped ALL unemployed workers Blacks and whites received “relief” Blacks and whites were given jobs – public works
African Americans begin to vote Democratic African Americans felt indebted to President Roosevelt 1932 - Most African Americans had voted Republican As they had since Reconstruction The party of Abraham Lincoln Blacks were tired of broken promises 1936 – 75% of African Americans vote Democrat They supported Roosevelt’s re-election
Continuing the Great Migration Programs administered with less discrimination in the North than in the South This encouraged black migration to the North. This meant more Blacks would vote Democratic in later elections
Discrimination in New Deal programs FDR avoided alienating the southern wing of his party Many were conservative segregationists Racists who supported Jim Crow segregation Some New Deal programs were less helpful to Blacks Some even had a negative impact Federal Housing agencies supported & strengthened residential segregation Agricultural Adjustment Administration paid land owners to reduce cotton acreage forced 100,000 black sharecroppers off the land.
Roosevelt and anti-lynching legislation President Roosevelt was publicly against lynching Privately in favor of a federal anti-lynching bill. Refused to make it “must” legislation The political cost was too high Didn’t want to lose white southerners in Congress
Whites run New Deal programs in the South FDR promoted “grassroots democracy” control of federal programs given to local governments Whites ran New Deal programs in the Southern states They discriminated against African Americans Distributed fewer “relief” checks to Black people
African Americans help themselves Blacks often had to help themselves The Urban League – lobbied for economic progress NAACP – fought to make lynching a federal crime Joint Committee on National Recovery (NAACP) fight discriminatory policies and expose inequality “Don't Buy Where You Can't Work” campaign Racial tension over unemployment and housing Race riot – Harlem -- 1935
African Americans benefitted from the New Deal 20% of Works Project Administration jobs went to Blacks FDR issued an executive order to halt pay discrimination Public Works Project established the first quota system for hiring Blacks Racial integration slowly returned to government