Racism was always an issue in American society, with black people until late in the nineteenth century being enslaved to the white population. After slavery was abolished, many white people resented not being able to keep coloured people under control and hated their new found freedom. Although they were lawfully equal to white people, they were still discriminated against, especially by groups such as W.A.S.P’s and the Ku Klux Klan. America was divided on the issue of black people and whilst most people in the north accepted the fact that black people were to be treated humanly, those in the south did not. This was probably because southerners had relied heavily on slave labour to carry out the heavy agricultural tasks that their trades produced. As a result of slavery being abolished, they now had to pay people to carry out these tasks. As a result hostility between black and white people in the south was very high and in 1919 all southern states passed the ‘Jim Crow Laws.’ These laws originated from the Black Codes that were enforced before black people were lawfully given equal rights. The ‘Jim Crow Laws,’ segregated black people from white, in schools, restaurants, hospitals on buses and in other public places. The laws varied from state to state, from placing curfew times on black people to working conditions, but they generally all had the same purpose; to ‘put blacks in their place’ and to ensure that in social hierarchy white people remained on top and blacks at the bottom. On top of the ‘Jim Crow Laws,’ black American’s who lived in the south also had to combat with the Ku Klux Klan. A racist organisation who not only disliked black people, but also Catholics, Jews, homosexuals and those who supported the Republicans. They dressed in white robes, had secret identities and their own leaders and even language. Their membership was very widespread with over four million members nationwide by 1924 and any crimes they committed were over looked, as most judges, police and juries were white and therefore members of this extreme activist group. The klan got their way and punished those they didn’t like by using extreme violence such as lynching and terror tactics to get people to do as they wished. However after 1925 they did begin to go into decline as a result of ‘self-inflicted wounds.’ The klan’s leader raped a woman during an over night train journey, ruining their reputation, as this directly went against their belief’s of ‘defending the purity of Christian womanhood.’ This proved their policies to be lies and therefore resulted in loss of support. This shows that although American society was intolerant, it was not only intolerant of people different from themselves, but also those that lied and cheated such as the klan and strayed away from Christian practices.
In the 1920’s, cultural was becoming more diverse as a result of lots of different people from different areas of the world living in the same country. As well as cultural diversity there was also religious diversity and although the main religion of America was Christianity different denominations of the religion was as common as bread and butter. As religious diversity became more widespread, the idea that the religion was not as important as it used to be also became rather common. Church attendance was drastically falling and Christian revivalism became a hot area for many media stars such as Billy Sunday and Aimee McPherson to make millions. New techniques were introduced to draw people to church. Billy Sunday turned Evangelicalism into consumer products, using loud sermons, blended political theory and cultural conversation to attract crowds. He appealed particularly to the Ku Klux Klan, as he had a conservative nature and believed in the restoration of pure religious faith. Aimee McPherson on the other hand was a radio preacher. She made Christianity less scary for the population and talked about a loving God as opposed to the wraths of hell. Her youthful ways and good humour drew young crowds in and she fused fundamentalism with Hollywood glamour and sex appeal. The revivalism movement received a lot of support in America within the 1920’s, this was as a result of people’s open attitudes towards change and the way aspects of life such as religion could be made more interesting by the new liberalist attitude society and the media had developed. However, Christian fundamentalist groups such as W.A.S.P still believed in strict Protestant, moral behaviour and refused to accept much of the new way of life and new discoveries and theories that were around. Many did not accept philosophies such as the theory of evolution and in some states schools were banned from teaching these new ideas. However one man, John Scopes went against this and taught the theory in his lessons and this resulted in the monkey trials, in which Scopes was put on trial and the theory of evolution was put up against the creation theory. Scopes was found guilty, which proved to the world that America was still intolerant of different people’s attitudes and they did not want to accept change. Religion and God were still an important part of their lives even though they were a very developed country.
In the 1920’s, American society was filled with diversity. Not only in the way of culture and religion, but also opinions, both political and racial. Although there were extremist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan who opposed any type of diversity such as homosexuality, there were also those who campaigned for liberal rights of others, such as the people who fought for Sacco and Vanzetti when they were put on trial. Political intolerance was at its peak point, as the Quota Acts were introduced during this period in American history. These not only discriminated against small ethnic groups, but also completely excluded East Asians such as the Chinese and Japanese. The Red Scare may have swept America, but once society began to be attacked as a result of the fear of Communism via the Palmer Raids, people began to protest against this, showing that although socialist views were not accepted, American society was not prepared to allow the government to withdraw civil rights from anyone. Society began to accept new ideas and crazes that swept the nation such as the rise of Hollywood and the Media. New ideas were accepted within American society, such as equality, however much of the old such as religion was still an important part of life. When it comes to assessing whether or not American society was tolerant in the 1920’s, I think that you have to look at the different areas of society individually. In the north new ideas were more easily accepted as it was mainly industrial areas, and although racism was common here it wasn’t as bad as in the south where ‘Jim Crow Laws’ were enforced. The south of American was mainly rural areas and therefore traditionalists tended to live here and wanted America to remain filled with a W.A.S.P society and their morals and values. However the times were changing and although the north was becoming more tolerant to try and keep up with the rest of the world, the south was not. America was fairly intolerant of new ideas in the 1920’s, however when it came to civil rights especially in the north of the country, many wanted to abide not only by the law but also by religion.
