Even though things were still bad through the 1930’s they did improve for the black people, showing them that they had hope. Though most of the black people had done nothing wrong.
Life for the immigrants in America was pretty bad as they also suffered discrimination. They suffered discrimination from the government rather people in America. They thought that the immigrants only came to their country to spread their ideals (communism and anarchy, communism being against the American way) and also to cause chaos. This affected them because the government wanted to have stricter rules and laws about who was allowed into the country. The immigrants who had just moved to the country were also looked down upon by the more established immigrant groups, such as the Irish, French Canadians and Germans. These groups tended to show hatred towards the newer immigrants form European countries like Italy. The Black and Mexican immigrants were thought of as the lowest people. The immigrants were treated badly from the moment they arrived in the country. One famous incident was the Sacco and Venzetti trial. Sacco and Venzetti were two Italian men accused of armed robbery and murder and were arrested. As the trial to convict them went on, it was apparent that the trial was less about the murder and more about their racial background and how the were Italian. After they were convicted their lawyer said, “Judge Thayer is narrow minded, unintelligent … and full of prejudice.” This shows how they were treated and how unfair their trial was. Although there was little evidence to show they were guilty they, they were still found guilty and convicted. This case shows how the immigrants were discriminated against. In 1924 immigrants were again discriminated against by the government further because they introduced a system where they only let immigrants in form north eastern Europe, mainly Britain, Ireland and Germany.
Many of these immigrants came to the USA innocently to earn money and get a job. Although some may have come with the intention to do harm by spreading communism and anarchy, most of them didn’t, for example many Jews fled form eastern Europe to America to get away form poverty and lots of Italians came to the USA to avoid persecution. Yet many of these people were discriminated against because of their background and some ideas that some people had in their country.
During the 1920’s the working class were the third group (mainly people in low-wage low-skilled jobs) suffered a different form of discrimination. The working class worked long-houred low-wage jobs. This affected them because this meant that the majority of them lived in poverty. One example of this was in North Carolina, men were paid $18 and women were paid $9 a week to work for about 70 hours, but $48 was seen as the minimum wage to live a decent life. Also during the 1920’s when there was a “boom” the average earning for the working class went up by 110% whereas the company profits and shareholder dividends went up by almost 165%. This shows how badly the working class were treated. This affected them very badly because it was thought that almost 42% of the people in America were living below the poverty line. This meant that the people were unable to support their family by not being able to buy things like food and clothing. Without food and clothing many people would have died of starvation.
Another reason the working class were treated badly was because there was no trade – unions, so there is no – one to protect them. This meant that many employers could mis – treat their employees in which ever way they liked. Also I know that for every dollar that was made only 10% (10 cents) want to the poorest 42% of the population and 32% (32 cents) went towards the richest 5% percent of the countries population. Just by looking at this you can see how little the working class earned.
But during the 1930’s things improved a little for the working class, as now one in every two – three houses owned a radio in the poorest parts of the country. Many people who didn’t own a radio set went to their neighbour’s house or to the shops to listen to one. But still many of these people were unable to support their family.
The working class were people that high-powered employers and bosses took for advantage. They were probably seen as cheap labour for them, so that they could increase their profits and keep more for them selves. This shows how people can become corrupt by money and power.
The last group of people to be discriminated against were the women of America. All women were discriminated against not only white women but the black women as well, but it would have been worse for the black women because they would have been discriminated against for the their colour as well as their sex. The women were discriminated against because they had their lives restricted and actions controlled by men. They were not allowed to wear certain clothes, they had to war make-up (although only the richer women would have been able to buy it), they were expected to be housewives and only some paid-jobs were open to them. Also they were not allowed to go on a date with a man without having a chaperone. They were also not allowed to drink and smoke in public. This affected them because they were restricted and had their lives controlled and manipulated by men. Also this probably would have made them upset. For the women who managed to get paid jobs, they wouldn’t have been paid much and the jobs open to them were cleaning or secretarial jobs. Life for black women would have been worse because as well as having restrictions put on them because they were women, they would have been discriminated against because they were black.
During the 1920s things changed for a lot for the women. They wanted to keep they jobs they had during the war, mainly factory work while the men were fighting. They were able to keep these jobs and were also able to share cars, drink and smoke in public. Also they were getting their own money and by 1920 all women were given the vote in all states. Another thing that changed was that the women were allowed to make decisions in the home and their house-hold work became easier with the introduction of electrical appliances such as the washing machine. This affected them because it made their lives easier and less restricted. Also it gave them more freedom and by having their own source of income they were able to entertain them selves and not have their lives controlled by men.
For the women tings really changed in the 1920’s as they got the vote and jobs that paid quite well. This would’ve enabled them to live independently.
In conclusion I think that all the discrimination that all these people received made their lives worse and hard to live, as they were not able to enjoy them, as they would have liked to. I think this because they had people restricting them and their actions and also they faced discrimination that stopped them doing what they wanted to. Also I think it shows how narrow-minded and hypocritical people can be. Basing their prejudices on colour, race, sex and background.
