"Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me." is a powerful quote from the African American poet Zora Neale Houston. This quote is from Zora’s essay, and it calls into question one of the many problems of the 1930's: the basic idea that people are meant to be seperated in the system of segregation. The 1930's were a very questionable type of era, with segregation, "The Great Depression", and the origins of WWII to name a few of its grievances. Segregation was in full swing against black people from 20-30 years before the civil rights movement. In addition, this era was also started about one year after the Economic Crash of 1929, causing the Great Depression. And, finally, this period had events that led to World War II. Because of these upheavals, the 1930s was a time period with many problems, from black segregation having a strong presence, to the beginnings of a whole new world conflict, and the near-collapse economic state of the country.
To start, segregation had an incredibly strong and huge presence in the U.S. during the 1930’s decade. The laws of segregation, or the Jim Crow Laws, were created all the way back in the decade of the 1870’s, 60 years before. As History.com states,” Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation.” This meant to separate the people of the country according to racial elements. Although these laws were only meant to separate people into equal opportunities, black people weren’t allowed the same equal opportunities as white people, often possessing opportunities that were disadvantaged from white people. This put people with black ethnicities or black skin colored appearances in a spot where they were clearly weren't allowed to be adequate to white skin colored people's opportunities.
Next, the "Great Depression" was a major decline in the economy of the U.S., becoming so dire to the point of affecting economies worldwide. The depression was caused by a number of reasons, which, according to History.com, stemmed from the large U.S. economic expansion happening in the 1910’s, caused by people "putting their savings into stocks", making the stocks worthless as they couldn't be liquidated to actual value and therefore be wiped out. This spelt major doom for consumers, who suddenly found themselves riddled with unpayable debt caused by making huge payments on credit, making loans that could never be bought back. This economic disaster decimated the financial wealth of millions of Americans, launching them into lethal poverty. This in turn destroyed any buying power that Americans had, putting companies out of business which caused unemployment. leading to less wealth, and less buying power available, in type of cycle that continued until 1939.
To end off, a whole new global conflict, right after WWI, was beginning to form. A Germany political party, called the Nazis, was founded by Adolf Hitler. Adolf believed in only benefitting a race dubbed the Aryan Race. This meant to cleanse the other races that Adolf (and his officials) deemed inferior to the Aryan Race, or just kill them. In fact, according to WWII National Museum, the whole reason for trying to conquer Europe was for benefitting the Aryan Race. In any case, Hitler, for trying to invade Poland, started the European WWII on September 1, 1939. His political takeover of Germany caused the start of a whole new global conflict, that would even grow to involve U.S.
In conclusion, the 1930’s were a very problematic era for the time. Racism had made its way into legal institution with the Jim Crow Laws, allowing for prejudice against blacks to be legalized. The ”Great Depression” had decimated the wealth of numerous Americans and had grown to decline the global economy. Finally, a new global conflict had begun to form, due to the political takeover of Germany by Hitler. Overall, the 1930’s were the reflection of many unfortunate events that plagued the decade.
To start, segregation had an incredibly strong and huge presence in the U.S. during the 1930’s decade. The laws of segregation, or the Jim Crow Laws, were created all the way back in the decade of the 1870’s, 60 years before. As History.com states,” Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation.” This meant to separate the people of the country according to racial elements. Although these laws were only meant to separate people into equal opportunities, black people weren’t allowed the same equal opportunities as white people, often possessing opportunities that were disadvantaged from white people. This put people with black ethnicities or black skin colored appearances in a spot where they were clearly weren't allowed to be adequate to white skin colored people's opportunities.
Next, the "Great Depression" was a major decline in the economy of the U.S., becoming so dire to the point of affecting economies worldwide. The depression was caused by a number of reasons, which, according to History.com, stemmed from the large U.S. economic expansion happening in the 1910’s, caused by people "putting their savings into stocks", making the stocks worthless as they couldn't be liquidated to actual value and therefore be wiped out. This spelt major doom for consumers, who suddenly found themselves riddled with unpayable debt caused by making huge payments on credit, making loans that could never be bought back. This economic disaster decimated the financial wealth of millions of Americans, launching them into lethal poverty. This in turn destroyed any buying power that Americans had, putting companies out of business which caused unemployment. leading to less wealth, and less buying power available, in type of cycle that continued until 1939.
To end off, a whole new global conflict, right after WWI, was beginning to form. A Germany political party, called the Nazis, was founded by Adolf Hitler. Adolf believed in only benefitting a race dubbed the Aryan Race. This meant to cleanse the other races that Adolf (and his officials) deemed inferior to the Aryan Race, or just kill them. In fact, according to WWII National Museum, the whole reason for trying to conquer Europe was for benefitting the Aryan Race. In any case, Hitler, for trying to invade Poland, started the European WWII on September 1, 1939. His political takeover of Germany caused the start of a whole new global conflict, that would even grow to involve U.S.
In conclusion, the 1930’s were a very problematic era for the time. Racism had made its way into legal institution with the Jim Crow Laws, allowing for prejudice against blacks to be legalized. The ”Great Depression” had decimated the wealth of numerous Americans and had grown to decline the global economy. Finally, a new global conflict had begun to form, due to the political takeover of Germany by Hitler. Overall, the 1930’s were the reflection of many unfortunate events that plagued the decade.