Monday, November 2, 2015

The New Deal and Civil Rights

Woodcut from Voices of Action, February 12, 1935. From The Great Depression in Washington State


Despite the significant limitations of the New Deal, it transformed American society in several ways. Read this article on the impact of the Great Depression and the New Deal on minority populations in Washington State. What is the relationship between civil rights and the New Deal, as described in the article?

This post will be available for comments until Monday, November 9.


27 comments:

  1. According to the article, the New Deal provided opportunities for minorities to fight for rights. For example, the Indian Reorganization Act allowed Native Americans to self rule and write laws for themselves. Taking advantage of such programs, they were able to stop whites from auctioning off their lands.

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  2. The article says that the New deal allowed for greater opportunities for political action for civil rights. Filipino and Japanese Americans could explore new ways to fight for civil rights. Even though African Americans would have higher unemployment rate and be more impoverished they would still have several key business still survive. Also Native Americans would have The Indian Reorganization Act which allowed them to have a greater sense of honor in their own culture and not longer be ruled fully under the American Government.

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    1. I agree. EMPLOYMENT, SUPPORT, & HOUSING are 3 categories I'd say the New Deal specifically influenced the civil rights. Another legislation that aided Native Americans was the Federal Housing Act of 1937, which in part prevented the sale of ancestral lands. The greater opportunities Terence refers to are in part by the SUPPORT from the new govt administration, “Critical too were the efforts of the Communist Party and of left wing unions that had the requisite influence with legislators”. There was a new "mindset" in office which, w/o it civil progression of this kind would have been bunted as it had in the past. (EX Plessy vs Ferguson case). Organizations/programs created under the New Deal (Civilian Conservation Corps, & Works Progress Administration) also offered support for the organized ethnic-activist groups, as well a some relief via employment.

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    2. I agree with Robyn that the new "mindset" in office made an impact on minority populations. As seen in the past, if there were to be no representation of a particular view in higher places, those demands, although cried by masses, would be silenced or just unheard. By having support from a recognized party, demands were now heard. The woodcut from Voice of Action portrays how the Communist party was in favor progress towards civil rights.

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  3. The New Deal and civil rights have a direct relationship. According to the article, the new deal sparked filipino civil rights campaigns, African American civil activists expanded, and the japanese and jewish who faced discrimination voiced their wish for equal rights.

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  4. I know the instructions were to comment in the relationship based on THIS ARTICLE, but I would like to express the idea that what these ethnic groups did not receive under the New Deal has a powerful impact their fight for justice, self determination, representation, and acknowledgment. A white male population were the main or priority recipients of many of the services provided in the New Deal. The article stated that each group had or started their own newspaper, and coalition to speak on behalf of their needs during this time period.

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    1. Again, I agree with Robyn. As I read through the article, I only saw a direct relationship between the New Deal and the rights of Native Americans, and even then, the article says "New Deal programs helped somewhat." Although programs such as the Indian Reorganization Act and the federal Housing Act of 1937 dedicated towards the natives made a drastic change in their quality of life (for the better), the other minorities mentioned in the article had to fight for their rights outside of the New Deal. The minority groups respectively made their own newspapers, close-knit communities, and civil rights groups as a response to the rights that they were not given under the New Deal. It's not as though these unions, campaigns, etc. were formed by the New Deal itself. So genuinely asking, does that mean that in the New Deal excluding rights from minority groups, it directly caused them to take such measures or indirectly?

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  5. Based on the article, the New Deal had effects on civil rights and minority groups. It allowed Indians to write their own rules and preserve their culture through the Indian Reorganization Act, helped Blacks create closer communities, and Filipinos and Japanese Americans started to be more politically active. Jewish organizations helped them against anit-semitism as well.

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  6. According to the article, the New Deal impacted minorities and civil rights. The Indian Reorganization Act allowed tribes to write their own constitution and self-rule, thus allowing them to preserve their culture. The federal Housing Act of 1937 also aided the Indians by providing them funds for housing on their reservations. African Americans united to form close-knit communities proving to be prosperous after the affects of the Great Depression. They became more active in their fight for civil rights by forming new partnerships with the Communist Party and the CIO. Filipinos and Japanese Americans began to have a voice in politics. Jewish organizations and activists also proved to play a key role with the Jewish Telegraph serving as a key tool for broadening the idea of equal rights for all Americans.

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  7. The article talks about the New Deal and how it affected minority groups across the country. It helped create more opportunities for minority groups to fight for their rights. For example, the New Deal allowed the Native Americans to strengthen their tribe governments and the Japanese Americans were able to create news outlets in order to fight against certain laws that put them at a disadvantage.

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  8. The New Deal led to greater opportunities for minority groups who suffered considerably during the Great Depression. However, during this time, minorities were much more politically involved and advocated for civil rights among themselves. Programs such as the Reorganization Act and federal Housing Act of 1937 provided Native Americans with more agency and self-governing. On the otherhand, other minorities formed communities and organizations who fought for civil rights through publications, alliances and unions.

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  9. According to the article, Civil Rights and the New Deal have a direct relationship, they both represent a collective conscience in which liberties and opportunities are constructed for those that wouldn't have otherwise. For example, the Indian Reorganization Act ado cared the tribes' abilities to "write constitutions, reclaim elements of self rule, and take steps to preserve and honor their cultures." Before this impacting act, the tribes essentially had no liberties or real choice; they now began paving away to pure autonomy.

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  10. The New Deal provided opportunities for minorities during the Great Depression. It allowed for civil right changes that preserved and honored the cultures. The Indian Reorganization Act allowed Native Americans to be more in control of their own rights. There were a rise in Filipino and Japanese communities. The New Deal really opened up America to a more diverse culture.

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  11. Like mostly everyone said, The Civil Rights act and the New Deal do have direct Relationship. The Article high lights and shows how these two are similar. They are similar because they both represent the oppression given, two groups represented through these two things include the Filipino-Americans and the African-Americans. It highlights the injustice of how the groups demand rights and yet they still do not get them even when by law they should.

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  12. The New Deal programs had a significant relationship with civil rights in terms of the minority groups in the 1930s. The New Deal programs brought about social reforms for minority groups while the idea on civil rights developed as a result. The Indian Reorganization Act helped Native Americans preserve their culture and lifestyle in the United States. As a result, they were able to assimilate with the customs of the typical white American at the cost of losing some of their livestock. African Americans, Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, and Jews were able to maintain several businesses such as the newspaper companies, like the Northwest Enterprise, Japanese American Courier, or Jewish Telegraph. These companies that survived through the Great Depression were able to provide a voice for their people despite the obstacles. Regardless of high unemployment rates and poverty among the minority groups, the New Deal programs were able to bring about social changes in the United States, which was related to the idea on civil rights.

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  13. I agree with my classmates, as described by the article the New Deal produced different ways for minorities to seek civil rights. Native Americans with The Indian Reorganization Act were able to govern themselves and take steps to maintain their culture. African Americans gained new politically active allies, within the Communist Party and the left wing of the Democratic Party.

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  14. As described in the article, civil rights and the New Deal have an intertwining relationship. Minorities were having a difficult time establishing themselves in society, and the New Deal gave them new outlets that allowed them to expand their freedoms. Such the Indian Reorganization Act, that allowed Native Americans to preserve their culture and way of life. The New Deal also allowed lead to new organizations and activism that allowed minorities to have a say in political actions. Such as preventing the bill that would of made the marriage of mixed races illegal.

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  15. Even though the whole purpose of the new deal was to help america get back from the great depression, it did limit minorities. The relationship between citizens and the government did have positive outcomes but it also created a gap. The limits of the new deal on the miniorities created social changes in society which lead to many political changes. Minorities started having a voice and stating their opnions about what was going on around them. African americans have always been very active in voicing their opinions and demanding equal rights which encouraged many other groups to do so. For example the Japanese and the filipinos are two groups that that followed the examples of the african americans of standing out in society.

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  16. As described in the article, the relationship between civil rights and the New Deal is a direct relationship. This relationship was built upon the fact that these two programs enabled minorities to claim their rights and what privileges they legally should have. Minorities such as Chinese and Filipino Americans as well as African Americans were always under represented, and thus these two events encouraged them to voice their opinions, specifically in political respects in order to highlight the general "cap" they had on their rights and how it was nationwide problem.

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  17. The New Deal encourages more changes within the US and help several minorities groups. For example, the Indian Reorganization Act gave the Natives rights to write constitutions, reclaim elements of self rule, and take steps to preserve and honor their cultures.

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  18. In reading this article you can find many comparisons with civil rights and the New Deal including the Indian Reorganization Act, minority groups such as Chinese and Filipino and others. Although the Native Americans were still not equal at this time it gave them chances to rule over themselves. For African Americans it was still a struggle but they were the inspiration behind giving voice to the pretty silent minority groups such as Chinese. These minority groups were finally able to have their opinion heard and have great opportunity to better their standard of living.

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  19. As the New Deal attempted to provide economic relief in many different ways such as such as creating new jobs through the Works Progress Administration , it also fostered civil rights both both directly and indirectly in communities of nonwhite peoples. It did so by aiding the survival of communities that went on to form their own forms of civil activism in the form of the press within their communities. The New Deal directly approached civil rights through the Indian Reorganization Act that "allowed tribes to reclaim elements of self rule, and take steps to preserve and honor their cultures" , as expressed in the article and mentioned by my fellow bloggers above.

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  20. According to the article, the New Deal led to an increase in opportunities for minorities during the Great Depression. As stated by my classmates, The Indian Reorganization Act was a great leap forward for Native Americans in the Untied States. It allowed them to revert to their previous ways of running their tribe which was significant because the governement had been trying to take their heritage away from them for decades. Newspaper companies run by minorties, such as The Northwest Enterprise, Filipino-American Chronicles, and The Jewish Telegraph, were prosperous during the Great Depression and remained open, despite high unemeployment rates for these minorities. African Americans also had new strong ties to different political parties, the communist party and the left wing Democratatic party, which served useful when killing the bill to make mixed race marriage illegal.

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  21. What is the relationship between civil rights and the New Deal, as described in the article?

    The relationship between civil rights and the new deal is a symbiotic one; The New deal provided a platform for minority groups in Washington state. Native Americans took advantage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 the new deal would allow the native american to write constitution and self govern themselves. African americans still had to opportunity to work, not blue or white collar jobs but when compared to the south, Washington state was more prosperous, in addition to being active in public office. The New Deal was a segway to a stronger political voice as well as slowly narrowing social inequality, among various minorities.

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  22. The relationship between the New Deal and civil rights in Washington State is that the New Deal gave opportunities to minority groups to express their activism. African Americans made new allies with the Communist party and left wing democrats, Fillipino Americans became active in unions and civil rights organizations, Japenese Americans were able to express themselves through newspapers and other public outlets for the first time, And Jews started advocating for civil rights and total equality. The New Deal was able to set the stage for these minority groups to emerge.

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  23. The New Deal and Civil Rights Movement are related through the New Deal's effort to improve the quality of life, it also urged on social reforms as well.The New Deal tried to give a better living standard for minorities and to limit the unemployment as well. An example from the article is the defeat of a law attempting discriminate against mixed race marriages and for it to become illegal.

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  24. The New Deal led to many changes and reforms within the minority groups like Indians, Filipinos, African Americans, Japanese, etc. As such as, the Indian Reorganization Act allowed the Indians to self-rule themselves by writing their own constitution and preserve their own culture. Many of the minority groups stuck close together and united as one in order to be heard by the public. The New Deal programs didn't help as much as it should of but it helped America realize the difference in treatment of different races.

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