This anti-immigration feeling that spread across the US during the 1920s had got horrific. Two South-eastern Europeans were framed for murder and robbery. These two men, Mr Sacco and Mr Vanzetti did not get a fair trial; the judge referred to them as, “those anarchist bastards”. Even though there was little evidence against them the two men were as expected found guilty and sentenced to death. The southeastern European immigrants brought anti-capitalist ideas such as anarchism, which meant that they do not agree with the government running a country. This made many Americans very unhappy.
Signs of nativist prejudice against foreign groups were the revitalization of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in the 1920s. The KKK was a group of white Americans running a campaign of hatred against the Negroes. The group had spread throughout America. Lynching was a common thing there was even thought that policemen, priests and judges all participated in these lynchings. It couldn’t be stopped the law couldn’t protect these Black Americans and between WWI and WWII, there had been 505 lynchings being recorded. Lynching didn’t necessarily mean hanging it could be humiliation, torture, burning, dismemberment and castration. Crowds watched these horrendous offences being carried out even children stood and watched with their families. Sometimes crowds as big as a thousand watched victims being whipped and beaten to their deaths. The purpose of lynching was to repeatedly remind Blacks that Whites were firmly in control. Blacks were prevented from voting for example voters had to explain a section of the American constitution. Many blacks couldn’t read let alone write what they understood about the American constitution. Most blacks were also excluded from voting if their Grandfathers hadn’t been able to vote in 1865. Once the blacks could no longer vote it was easy to enforce segregation from the Blacks and Whites particularly in public places these laws were enforced in many American states. These laws were called Jim Crow Laws. One example of a Jim Crow Law was to not associate with the following, “No Dogs, Negroes or Mexicans”. Another law, which was passed, was intermarriage of a white person and a black person, “marriages between a white person and a Negro…were hereby forever prohibited”. A judge called William Brown established the legality of segregation as long as blacks and whites were, “separate but equal”. But the Supreme Court would do nothing to end this discrimination.
Not just immigrants were discriminated against; racial minority groups such as the Native Americans were badly treated. At the end of the 19th century white Americans forced Native Americans from their traditional land. Their land was sacred and supported the Natives. Buffalo was their life and they were killed. Once moved from their land they were treated as second-class citizens, forced to farm the poorest soil that the whites rejected. They were badly hit by the economic Depression of the 1930s and malnutrition and disease become more common.
In conclusion therefore, this essay has examined the different ethnic minorities in America and the extent of discrimination that they faced. Whilst examining Hispanics this essay highlighted the discrimination they faced by being called “greasers” and them being deported after the harvests were gathered. However Hispanics were not discriminated against as badly as other ethnic groups because Californian fruit growers needed them. The Chinese were scrutinized in this essay as being discriminated against because they were named, “coolies”. Despite that fact, their bosses of the railroads liked them very much and appreciated their hard work and effort along with the Japanese who were on the other hand segregated in schools and were also not allowed to own land. The southeastern Europeans were unfairly treated as well as the other cultural groups, reason being that they brought anarchism to America and this made American’s very unhappy. Natives were very despondent with the way Americans dealt with them; they were moved off of their land and took away everything they lived for, moved to lands where crops could not grow, and where malnutrition and disease were very common. The Ethnic Minority groups and how they were discriminated against does not compare with the way Black Americans were treated in the 1920s. One anti-nativist group, the KKK were the worst kind of hostile group to literally torture Blacks. Blacks were segregated in public places mostly. Many Blacks were even murdered by white Americans. The death rates of Blacks were the worst encounter with Racism in America. Race riots were reported and at least 300, and perhaps as many as 3,000 died. The Black Americans must have been the worst discriminated ethnic group during the 1920s in the United States of America.
