What Are The Problems In Chicago In The 1930s

In the 1930s, racism was a major problem in Chicago for the African American citizens in all societies. There was an area called the Black Belt, which is where almost all of the blacks lived. One of the exceptions was Archibald Motley. He was a painter who lived in a white community, which was extremely rare. Also in the 1930s of Chicago there were many racial problems with homicides. For example, white people could easily get away with murder and not go to jail, but if a black person were to commit the crime, they would be given the death penalty. Also The Great Depression was going on in the 1930s in Chicago. Many things were divided worse than they were to begin with. Many problems went on in Chicago during the 1930s, which almost all had

For example, the punishments wouldn’t be evenly and fairly applied across the population. If a white man killed a person, there was a high possibility he could easily get away with little to no punishment. But if a black male were to kill a person, he would get the worst punishment. He could be hung, tortured, and even given the death penalty. Studies have shown that in the first half of the 20th century, of all the cases 60% to 90% of executions were blacks. In rape cases out of all the offenders executed, 89% of them were black. Also if a black man killed a white man, 6.8% of them were executed, But if they killed a black man, 1.5% were executed. Studies have shown, that no white man was executed for killing a black man.During this time of unfairly being treated, The Great Depression was a major factor in the 30s. Many places were highly segregated. Also when the Great Depression a lot of African Americans were left unemployed. There was about 40% to 50% of blacks unemployed. It’s unbelievable how unfairly treated African Americans were treated in Chicago in the 1930s. So many people were punished unfairly and so many people were segregated for no reason at all, except for their skin color. It got really bad in Chicago when it comes to these types of

Also just being treated unfairly treated for their skin color. There is some examples of this in the book “Native Son”. Not only throughout the book but in “How Bigger Was Born” in the back of the book. There is one part in the book where there was a boy who did nothing, but was held in police custody. In the book Wright says, “Squad cars cruise the Black Belt and grab the first Negro boy who seems to be unattached and homeless. He is held for perhaps a week without charge or bail, without the privilege of communicating with anyone, including his relatives” (455). It also says that he was beaten by the cops until he “confesses” to the crime that he committed. When in reality he never committed any crime. This is an instance of a situation that should not happen under any circumstances. These were cops, who were supposed to keep people safe, and beat a little kid just because they wanted him to confess to a crime that he never did. This is wrong in so many ways. Cops are supposed to protect the people in their town or city. Instead they were beating African Americans in Chicago just because they wanted them to be given the death penalty or be put in jail. Cops should have never done this. They may have not liked the kid because of his skin color, but they should have never gone to the extreme that they took it to. This makes so many people wonder, because the cops are supposed to protect