Historical Context
"While blacks benefited greatly from New Deal programs, discrimination by local administrators was extremely common."
-John Hardman, The Carter Center |
"During the Great Depression, African Americans were disproportionately affected by unemployment: they were the first fired and the last hired."
-PBS Film Slavery by Another Name |
"The Great Depression worsened the already bad economic situation of black Americans. African Americans suffered from an unemployment rate two to three times that of whites. In early public assistance programs blacks often received substantially less aid than whites, and some charitable organizations even excluded blacks from their soup kitchens. It was an extremely poor and desperate time for most African Americans."
-John Hardman, The Carter Center
-John Hardman, The Carter Center
"[Any American] qualified by training and experience to be assigned to work projects shall not be discriminated against on any grounds whatsoever." "The President has made this clear . . . It is essential that there be no discrimination in this work because of race, religion or politics . . ." |
"Southern Democrats were only willing to accept his New Deal reforms if he excluded women and African Americans especially, so even though FDR himself and especially his wife Eleanor Roosevelt were personally very progressive on issues of gender and race, politically it was very difficult for Roosevelt to get reforms that included women and racial minorities or no reform would have passed because Democrats . . . had super majorities and they controlled a lot of committees in Congress so that without their support nothing would get passed."
-Personal interview with Erik Gellman, Roosevelt University
Under Roosevelt's leadership, some federal laws were
put in place to stop racial discrimination. However, these policies
often weren't implemented in local governments, especially in the South, where
racism was a way of life. Roosevelt failed to advocate to eliminate discrimination because he needed the votes of Southern Democrats. His political
tact superseded his courage and empathy, and his New Deal benefited African
Americans significantly less than it benefited whites.