African-American Empowerment: 1919-1939 Shanjith Ramanan ENG1D9 The 20 year period in between =1919 and 1939 was an extremely difficult era for African-Americans. After coming back from the first World War and entering one of the hardest time periods in American history, The Great Depression, many African-Americans were sick and tired of how they were poorly treated. As many whites returning from the war were celebrated as war heros, many blacks were still treated like trash. Throughout the time period 1919-1939, many African-Americans believed that the only way to be seen as equals of whites in their community was by empowering themselves. Three ways how African-Americans in the south attempted to empower themselves were by attempting to own land and become financially stable, by supporting other African-Americans in their community financially, and by getting their children an education that they deserved so that they could gain better jobs and lead a better life. …show more content…
“ A man without land is nobody”-( The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz). Without land, it was impossible for African-Americans to become wealthy and financially stable. This is because instead of making profits, African-Americans spent all the money that they earned to pay off their` dues. “ If it’s yours, and yours alone. Doesn’t matter if it’s the Taj Mahal or a hole in the ground.”- (Yosemite Sam, Peel of Fortune, the looney tunes show). The few wealthy African-Americans during this time period were ones who owned land. Reason being they were actually able to make profits. This proves that it does not matter how large of a plot of land you are working at if it is not one’s own. This was one way how African-Americans unsuccessfully attempted to empower