Groups affected by the New Deal

Opportunities or Limits?  Important opportunity for minorities and women  BUT gains were still limited  Prejudice and discrimination  Prevented full and equal participation

Women  Women named to government positions  Frances Perkins  First female cabinet member  Secretary of Labor  Role in creating Social Security system  Roosevelt was encouraged by his wife  Wanted women’s vote

African Americans  A. Philip Randolph  First all-black trade union  The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (labor Union)  His work helped to lay the ground work for the civil rights movement  Roosevelt appointed more than 100 African Americans to key government positions  Mary McLeod Bethune

Mary McLeod Bethune  Educator  Dedicated to promoting opportunities for young African Americans  President of Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration  Ensured the NYA provided training and benefits to minority students

Black Cabinet  Organized by Bethune  Group of influential African Americans who advised the Roosevelt Administration on racial issues

Eleanor Roosevelt  Instrumental in giving minorities an opportunity  Brought singer Marian Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939  DAR would not allow her to perform at their concert hall because of her race  Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the organization

No Commitment!  Roosevelt made efforts to promote racial equality  But never committed to full civil rights for African Americans  Why?  He didn’t want to upset southern democrats  He refused to pass a federal anti-lynching law and remove the poll tax  New Deal Programs DISCRIMINATED against African Americans  Lower wages  Supported New Deal as “their best hope for the future”

Native Americans  STRONG government support from the New Deal  1924 full citizenship by law  John Collier- Commissioner of Indian Affairs  Indian Reorganization Act  Moved from assimilation to Native American autonomy  Restored reservation lands to tribal ownership  Economic  Cultural  Political  Some praised the act  Some objected

New Deal Coalition  Minorities supported Roosevelt  New Deal Coalition  Alignment of diverse groups dedicated to supporting the Democratic Party  Southern whites  Mid western Farmers  African Americans  Unionized industrial workers (blue collar)  Democrats dominated politics through the 1930s and 1940s

The Rural Scene  Under the 2 nd AAA loans were made to farmers by the Commodity Credit Corporation  Value of the loan was determined by amount of a farmer’s surplus and the parity price  Parity Price- price intended to keep farmers’ income steady.  Federal aid to farmers continues today  Farm Service Administration (FSA)

The Environment  The Civil Conservation Corps  The Soil Conservation Service- taught farmers how to conserve the soil through contour plowing, terracing, and crop rotation  Taylor Grazing Act of help reduce grazing on public lands  Today  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Federal Deficit and Unemployment

Welfare State  Creation of programs led to the rise of a welfare state  A government that assumes responsibility for providing for the welfare of children and the poor, elderly, sick, disabled, and unemployed.  Most Americans had never received any type of direct relief.  State, local, private charities  FDR wanted to create a “country in which no one is left out.”  New Deal established the federal government was responsible for the welfare of all Americans.

From the People….  Anderson County Schools Clinton, Tennessee January 26, 1936  Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt Washington, D.C.  My dear Mrs. Roosevelt,  You may think I am a very insignificant person to be writing to a person of your standing and ability but by reading your article and hearing your talks I know you are real and have an interest in people even my dear little needy boys and girls of the mountain schools.  I am Rural Supervisor of schools in my county. I have forty schools to supervise. Due to insufficient clothing and food many are unable to attend schools.  I wish it were possible for you to see some of the conditions. It is not uncommon for a child to have but one dress or one shirt. They have to stay at home the day the mother laundries them.  I am just wishing that in some of your groups that it would be possible to interest them in our needs. The Save the Children Fund, with headquarters in New York, has helped me some. Many children of my schools would be unable to attend school had it not been for this organization.  I hope you will not consider me rude for writing. I have my heart in the work. I realize a hungry or a cold child cannot learn too much.

To the People…  Reply to the letter:  January 31, 1936  My dear Miss S:  Mrs. Roosevelt asks me to acknowledge your letter and to tell you that she read it with sympathetic interest. Much as she would like to help you, she finds it impossible to do so, as all the money she has to give has been pledged and allocated.  Assuring you of Mrs. Roosevelt's regret, I am  Very sincerely yours, Malvina T. Scheider Secretary to Mrs. Roosevelt