Why Was There Racism in the 1930's?

Racism has, unfortunately, been a big part of the history of the United States. Many of the reasons for racism in the 1930's are the same as why there is racism today. Additionally, the cultural changes and poor economy due to the Great Depression also played a part.

The poor economy of the 1930's played a major role in changing the interactions between the whites and the blacks and in building racism.

Tensions in the North

Feelings and attitudes towards blacks began to change in the 1930's. Many blacks had started to migrate up from the south to the north in search of employment. Living in close proximity to blacks was a new phenomenon for many whites. Whites in the north had not had as many blacks living in their communities in the past.

Many whites started to act racist against the blacks. New Yorkers, in particular, started to feel rather possessive of their city, and a cover of one issue of the New Yorker shows a drawing of drunken black man passed out drunk on a stairwell while a white police officer looks on. Racist attitudes were spreading in the country.

Great Depression Fuels the Racism in the 1930's

During the Great Depression, many people's lives were completely altered. Many people lost their jobs. The job may have been phased out or it was offered to a worker who would accept a lower wage.

Blacks started to take some of the available jobs. This process had not really been an issue before hand, since there were not as many blacks living in the northern states. The north had once been a refuge for blacks; however, now, the whites living in the north were angry that some of their positions were being taken.

As the blacks moved into the northern states, they began to establish their own neighborhoods with their own businesses and restaurants. They brought their own music or started to adapt the white music to include the tones and rhythms of the music they had enjoyed in the south. All of this activity caused competition to grow with the white people already living in the area.

Civil War Tensions Remained

The Civil War ended about 60 years before the 1930's even started, and most of the people who had been participants in that war were deceased. However, we know that even today, there are still places that wave the Confederate flag and believe in what they war stood for. Therefore, we have to imagine that tensions were even worse when we go farther back into history. People were still not over what had happened, and some believed that slavery should still exist.

Other Reasons for Racism

There were other problems that had occurred in the past, and lasted into the future that also had their place in 1930's racism:

• There was a sort of "legal" racism allowed at the time, by which we mean that schools, buses, water fountains, and so forth could be separated by race. These practices only allowed people to feel even more distant from one another.
• Although the Ku Klux Klan had started to lose some of their steam during this decade, their presence was still felt.

Racism has existed for many of the same reasons throughout the years. It is important to note that, because it is important for us to realize that people still refuse to give up age old ideas about how life and society are supposed to be. We must realize that changing these specific attitudes will lead to a destruction of racism.