Women in the Great Depression:

The Great Depression had tremendous social implications on women as it redefined their traditional roles in American society. The Great Depression was a cultural shock for many Americans as they saw a shift in their generations-long ways and values due to the economic woes of the Great Depression. The social effect of this time period on women was that it increased their responsibility, gave them more leadership, and redefined their traditional gender roles.

 

The most important effect on women was that this time period intensified the responsibilities on them. In this era of history, most men saw a prodigious decrease in their wages or they were flat unemployed. That meant that women had to work even harder at running the home but at lower costs. If a man saw a reduction in income that meant that if there was a good or service the family bought before, now the woman would have to do it herself. Women that were employed or partly employed saw a decrease in their wages. Eleanor Roosevelt once remarked, “Practically every woman, whether she is rich or poor, is facing today a reduction in income.” Woman had to work hard at reducing expenses with a variety of tactics. This included basic acts of buying older bread or heating up all the dishes at once in the oven to save their gas. Women constantly had to live in stress knowing that if they were to get an illness or a injury, it would really debilitate the family's ability to function since practically everything but income was relying on them. Whether it was cooking, or raising children, or maintaining the home, women had to constantly be there.   

 

The time period gave them a lot more leadership. As families saw they had to decrease their budget to save money, women began to do work, that was normally paid for, by themselves. This included household repairs, educating their kids, making clothing, or making store bought foods themselves. This increased their value and their control over different aspects of the family. Women were taking more control over handling/determining the family budget as well as doing tasks men would have normally done around the house. This resulted in them stepping up in their communities. For example when Norman Cousins (a journalist) tried to scapegoat women, claiming they were taking men’s jobs, women publicly spoke out against him in community meetings or in community papers.

 

This increase in leadership would help change their families as it reshaped traditional gender roles. For example women that were widowed or single handedly running the family were earning all the income for their families. In situations where men had left them, they were forced to not only run the family but then earn the money. As a result, this posed as a challenge to the notion that men were the bread winner of the family while women were to be at home. In some situations women were working while men were out jobs or women were earning more than men. The industrial jobs such as coal mining or building were the hardest hit during the depression and this where most men were working in. This meant that men saw larger unemployment or wage cuts than the women- who were working in more service sector jobs such as nursing or making clothing. As a result some women were earning more than their male counterparts.

 

Women in the Great Depression witnessed changes in their role society as financial ruin forced them gain more responsibilities and reshaped their gender roles. This change in responsibility would be particularly important in the coming years when men would be sent of in a World War while women would have to handle the nation back at home.

 

Effect on Minorities:

 

Whenever nations are hit with times of struggle, minorities are an interesting subject of examination as they can often times get different treatment or face different conflicts that many larger ethnic groups don’t always relate to. In the topic of the Great Depression, the minorities of study are blacks, Mexican Americans, and Asians.

Even with a variety of different minorities, there were several common treatments towards them. One of the biggest issues was that unemployment was much higher for minorities at above 50% compared to the national average which was above 25%. Historically speaking during times of struggle, large groups tend to discriminate against smaller group in order to find a scapegoat to place blame and help cope with their conflict. As a result minorities would face plenty of discrimination and would be the first to be let go on businesses or on farms. Employment at public works programs was also often denied to them though it was meant for the most needy. In terms of getting benefits from relief centers and from government programs or charitable programs they were often given help last if any at all. Also minorities were kept out of joining unions and gaining benefits that way. Unions used their influence in Congress to insure that the New Deal did not require equal treatment for minorities. With these common trends in mind, what were some specific forms of mistreatment on different minorities?

 

Blacks:

Blacks faced a lot more poverty than whites during the Great Depression. Problems in the black community included unemployment, homelessness, increase in disease (since they would not receive as much treatment), and malnutrition. It was especially among the black communities that charitable organizations would refuse to feed and it was very dominant in the south. For example in the south there was a slogan that said, “No Jobs for [Blacks] until every white man had a job.” Because whites began to get unemployed, blacks were removed from their jobs so unemployed whites could come in. After unemployed whites, priority was then given to women. Jobs that blacks were fired from included elevator operators, farm laborers, street cleaners, waiters, etc. As the economic situation began to worsen there was increased violence against blacks. White mobs would lynch blacks out of racism and each year the lynching grew worse. Lynching is when a mob kills a person for a crime they may or may not have done, or out of just pure hatred, typically by hanging that person. The higher poverty in the south along with increased racial acts against them prompted hundreds of thousands of blacks to migrate to the north as they hoped they might get more industrial jobs there in less racial environments. Unfortunately there too, they encountered poverty. One key advancement for the blacks was the development of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) which was an organization instituted to assist blacks in getting employment and getting better support in the labor movement.

 

Hispanics:

Much like blacks, Mexicans and Mexican americans also faced discrimination during the depression in terms of gaining benefits from charities, non profits, and the governments as well as employment opportunities. Between 1900 and 1930 many Mexicans started coming into the U.S for opportunity to do mostly low paying jobs. These mostly were agriculture related in the southwest but they also worked in mining and manufacturing. As the depression hit there was more competition for jobs and this prompted hostility towards Mexicans as they were thought to be taking away too many jobs. The result was that the federal government attempted to remove them from the nation. The Hoover administration cracked down on immigration very strongly by having immigration agents, county sheriffs, and local police act swiftly and strictly on non legals and have them deported. They would launch raids and would make gather large number of Mexicans at once and investigate them. Intimidation and unwarranted/illegal arrests were made at any given moment. Those that even looked Mexicans were subject to such harassment. Aside from large street sweeps, federal investigators would go from door to door and demand papers. They used intimidation and if they Mexicans were unable to produce their papers fast they would send them to jail. Those jail could not use bail to get out and would have to sit there and wait till the next option to get transported back to Mexico. Such acts by the government fear in the Mexican community and many decided to return back to Mexico. While investigations were made of these discriminatory policies, the Hoover administration denied that they did anything wrong and they maintained public support.

 

Asian-Americans:

Due to the industrial revolution many Asians had established a presence in the country by this time period. In fact Asians were critical in the development of the railroad system and were also important in mining and agricultural tasks. One advantage Asian workers had was that they would easily be willing to work for less than whites. The result was that people blamed their low wages and their declining living standards on the Chinese Americans. The discriminatory policies and racism during this time also prompted asian communities to cluster more, such as in cities in Los Angeles or San Francisco.