How widespread was racism and intolerance in America during the 1920s?

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Marc Cotterill

How widespread was racism and intolerance in America during the 1920s?

To the rest of the world in the 1920s America had the image of a land of prosperity, opportunity, freedom and tolerance. It gave the impression that if you went to live there you would soon become a naturalised American no matter where you came from. Because of this many immigrants flooded into America at the turn of the century from many different European states. But behind this façade things were a little bit different. America was not such a land of tolerance as it made out and many people suffered in the 1920s varying degrees of intolerance, discrimination and racism.

On the whole immigrants were one large and diverse group of people who suffered varying degrees of discrimination in their slow process of assimilation. During the 1920s communism was spreading across Eastern Europe via Russia and the USA feared that recent immigrants from these places would bring the idea of communism to America. This culminated in what became known as the red scare. Because of the climate of fear and suspicion some immigrants were treated badly and unfairly. In the case of Sacco and Vanzetti, they were sentenced and executed for murder with very little evidence against them. The judge was even said to have smiled as the verdicts were read out. Sacco and Vanzetti were immigrants and known supporters of communism and anarchism.

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New immigration laws were also introduced which further contributed to American intolerance. The literacy test, the emergency quota act and the national origins act. The literacy test made sure only people who could read and write entered America, and so made sure that no poor people could enter America. The emergency quotas act in 1921set a limit on the number of immigrants entering America to 357,000. And the national origins Act reduced the limit again but was deliberately deigned to penalize immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. By 1929 the number of immigrants allowed to enter the US had ...

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