Race And Democracy In The New Deal Era

Days of Hope: Race and Democracy in the New Deal Era Franklin Roosevelt's subsequent New Deal programs were meant to address economic conditions faced after the Depression and the Second World War conditions. Southern United States was linked with race and poverty inextricably, the politics designed to remedy these economic problems created a unique period of opportunity for those involved in reversing the second class status of southern African Americans. The national crisis of southern poverty created opportunities for southern liberals to attempt to change the deep-rooted economic, political, and racial traditions of the South. According to Sullivan, “the development of mostly-young southern liberals and the

Despite their efforts at national legislation outlawing lynching and the poll tax, these organizations were often frustrated by Roosevelt's and the Democratic Party's unwillingness to completely alienate the increasingly powerful and conservative cadre of southern democrats. Sullivan goes on to argue that Wallace believed “Roosevelt was uniquely suited to orchestrate a long overdue reordering of the country’s political and economic system” (177). The Depression and Second World War did create ample opportunities for long-term economic, political, and social change. The efforts by southern liberals were the seeds planted that would later bear fruit. They would continue to be nurtured by the legal and political developments, the ideas articulated, the alliances formed, and the expectations raised during the New Deal years. The sprouts of hope prepared the ground for the struggles to follow. Harvest time would come in the next