African Americans In The 1930's

Sweat. Pain. There is little left to lose, but the world left to gain. Although society is equal now with little segregation among the whites and the blacks, life has not always been like this. In fact, nearly 70 years ago, the life of an African American was composed of discrimination and segregation. In the 1930's, African Americans faced inequality and prejudice in nearly every aspect of their daily lives. The standard of education, voting rights, and occupations African Americans received was pitiful compared to that of whites. African Americans lived very separate lives away from the whites. Education is a very important part of a child’s life; however, public education has not always been so easily accessible and advanced as it is

The government set up voting edicts aimed specifically toward the colored population. For example, one must properly pass a literacy test in order to be able to vote, but the reported illiteracy rate of the African Americans in the 1930's was nearly twenty percent (3). Poll taxes were to be collected before a person could vote; however, many African Americans were already poverty-stricken and did not have the money to pay this expense. The few African Americans who passed the literacy test and were able to pay the poll tax were violently intimidated or threatened. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a racist group who scared blacks away from voting by burning crops, beating, whipping, clubbing, and murdering African Americans (1). Though African Americans were legally given suffrage, few actually

Black workers were the first to be laid off when the economy fell (1), and the last to be employed (6). African Americans were denied occupations allegedly available to all citizens. Nearly half of the black population in America in the 1930's was unemployed (1). Those lucky enough to remain employed during hard times received wages nearly thirty percent below the wages of white workers (5). For example, white sharecroppers made on average, 417 dollars per year, while a black sharecroppers’ salary averaged only 295 dollars per year. Nearly forty percent of African American workers were farm laborers, sharecroppers, and tenant farmer (1). Because job availability was rare, white women began seeking jobs previously occupied by African American women, such as cooks, housekeepers, and maids (1). African Americans were considered fit only for the low-paying, dirty jobs no one else wanted, such as the following: elevator operators, street cleaners, garbage collectors, waiters, and bellhops. Boycotts led by black workers struck out against the companies who refused to employ colored workers. “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” (1). The boycotting and campaigns worked, eventually causing businesses to open their doors to black