Black Americans faced the highest unemployment rate during the Great Depression largely due to the rapid change of the American Economy from an agricultural nation to an industrialized economy.
But did America do anything to address this?
In 1935, the Wagner Act built the foundation for labor laws today. However, it did not originally include protections for Black workers who accounted for almost 60 percent of American labor in the 1930s.
This kept our people from union protections and social security benefits until the 1950s!
In response to the Wagner Act, many Black sharecroppers and farm workers migrated from the south to the north in search of better job opportunities. Unfortunately, the north didn’t necessarily come with greener pastures, as many of us struggled to find industrial work as well.
Many of our social program structures exist today because of the Great Depression’s New Deal. The federal government entitled Black Americans to these programs on paper but left their upkeep to local governments consumed by Jim Crow laws. This essentially denied these programs to us.
The Great Depression period saw many white Americans recover in the face of great economic hardship, however, Black people were left behind at every corner. It’s time for us to take control of our economic destiny for a wealthier future!