What were the effects of the great depression on African-Americans?

Answer 1

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The depression hit African Americans hard. While many African Americans were already living in poverty, white employers felt no reservations about firing their black workers first and by 1932 more than half of African Americans were out of the jobs. Racial tensions grew as economic tensions mounted, lynching's in the south saw a huge resurgence. "Although there were many inequities in the New Deal housing, agricultural and economic programs, blacks had opportunities to obtain employment, some in areas previously closed to them. Black writers, for example, participated in the New Deal's writing projects, while other black Americans interviewed former slaves for the Works Project Administration (WPA)"
The stock market crash of 1929 caused soup lines to become the order of the day for the skilled and unskilled alike in urban areas across the nation. African Americans in both cities and rural areas, many already living in poverty, suffered greatly from the economic depression. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1932, he promised a "new deal" for all Americans that would provide them with security from "the cradle to the grave." Although there were many inequities in the New Deal housing, agricultural and economic programs, blacks had opportunities to obtain employment, some in areas previously closed to them. Black writers, for example, participated in the New Deal's writing projects, while other black Americans interviewed former slaves for the Works Project Administration (WPA). These New Deal programs generated numerous documents that found their way to the Library's collections. Black-owned newspapers protested segregation, mistreatment, and discrimination. Labor leader A. Philip Randolph threatened a march on Washington, D.C. by hundreds of thousands of blacks in 1941 to protest job discrimination in defense industries and the military. To avoid this protest, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, reaffirming the "policy of full participation in the defense program by all persons, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin."

Answer 2

FDR was concentrating on the economic problems for the workers, including minorities. But on the issue of civil rights, FDR was silent. No major civil rights laws were passed. The Democratic Party depended upon the "Solid South" for support and FDR overlooked things like the Jim Crow Laws of southern states. He even refused to give his support to an anti-lynching bill and he allowed segregation of work gangs on federal projects. Under pressure from the NAACP and Eleanor Roosevelt, and other minority leaders, the New Dealers made sure Blacks shared in relief programs. Black people moved into more than a third of new housing units constructed by the federal government.