Chapter 27 Postwar America Section 4 The Other Side of American Life

Poverty Amidst Prosperity In the 1950s, 1 in 5 Americans lived below the poverty line, a figure the gov’t set to reflect the minimum income required to support a family.

Michael Harrington Chronicled poverty in the U.S. in the 50s in The Other America. The poor included single mothers, elderly, minority immigrants, rural Americans, Appalachians, and Native Americans.

Decline of the Inner City Many Americans moved to the suburbs, so the urban areas became home to the poor, less educated minority groups. In the 1950s the gov’t tried to help with urban renewal programs, in which they tore down slums and built high-rise projects.

African Americans A.A. salaries were only 51% of what whites earned. NAACP and CORE pushed for equality with little success.

Hispanics Through the Bracero Program, some 5 million Mexican immigrants came to the United States to help with agricultural needs. They struggled with poverty and worked in unbearable conditions.

Native Americans N.A. were the poorest group in the nation. Through the termination policy, the federal gov’t withdrew all official recognition of the N.A. groups as legal entities and made them follow the same laws as white citizens.

Juvenile Delinquency Antisocial or criminal behavior of youths was on the rise, or at least the reporting of the rise of j.d. Cut across class and race lines. Many teens were stereotyped if they had long hair and dressed in an unconventional manner.

School As baby boomers started attending school, enrollments increased greatly. The increase caused a shortage of buildings and teachers.

Math and Science Due to Sputnik, the efforts made to advance math and science education in schools were made.

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