The Great Depression and World War II, have affected the society in many ways. The Great Depression affects almost all the New Yorkers and people were at soup kitchens. Homeless and unemployed lived in shacked called Hoovervilles. In the chapter, “A Time of Trial” New Yorkers During the Great Depression and World War II”, Frederick Binder and David Reimers stated that “85,000 people waited for free meals at eighty-one locations in front of churches and other charitable institutions.” Municipal Lodging House provided 400,000 lodging and one million meals for New Yorkers. And in order to help out during these desperate times, churches and religious agencies such as the Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Jewish were all trying to expand their aids however many charities still found themselves unable to meet all request for aids. Furthermore, unemployment was a major issue“About one-fourth of New Yorkers were unemployed by 1933”(pg.178). Thus, unskilled laborers such as the Poles, Italians, Irish, Germans, and Jews suffered to find places to live.
The Great Depression affected the lives of different ethnic and racial groups in various ways and to different degrees. Blacks suffered more than whites. “ Median black income in Harlem fell 44 percent..and in the bottom years of the depression more than 40 percent of blacks were out of work, nearly twice the proportion of whites,”(179). Many departments refused to hired black people. They became so desperate to the point black new yorkers opened slaved markets “ where black women will be carrying signs advertising themselves as available for housework.” Chinese population was also affected by the depression. 30 percent were unemployed. “ The Federal Emergency Relief Administration reported only 1.2 percent of the Chinese population was on relief compared to 23.9 percent of blacks and 9.2 of whites,”(Pg. 180). Furthermore, “Jewish women, in addition to anti-semitism, encountered sexual bias when they attempted to become doctors or lawyers, (pg. 188).” With the upcoming war and depression going on, Nazism in Germany also affected America. An American Nazi group called The Bund will attack Jewish people and help rally with Nazi banners and music. However as the war got closer, the government “persecuted Bund leaders” and the organization was dissolved.
Many social and lifestyle also changed due to the depression. For instance, New Yorkers try to keep their kids in school for a better job because the white collar had it easier than the blue collar. “ The number of students attending high school increased by 45%,”(pg. 180). Jewish men and women are more inclined to seek a higher education compared to other ethnic groups. People moved in with their parents and postponed their marriage and also have fewer kids during this time of hardship.
Furthermore, an important election also happened during this time. In the midst of all this chaos, La Guardia won as the mayor of New York. He got a lot of support from the Italians and Jewish because he helped them gain city position and also came up with a social program that attacked Nazism. La Guardia also has black supporters. The most important reason that he had so many supporters was that he was against political corruption and gambling and he was a “highly visible mayor”. He advocated for New York to have its own airport thus La Guardia airport was built. Furthermore, in order to help with unemployment, mayor La Guardia turned to Robert Moses to “ utilize Civil Works Administration funds to hire 68,000 men to rebuild city parks” (185). Furthermore, Moses also built roads, parkways, as well as more facilities in a black neighborhood.
The Great Depression also lead to a new form of radicalism. Radicals formed the American Labor party and it consisted of members from Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, ILGWU and the International Longshoremen’s Union. They gained a lot of popularity however they are divided between communist and the anticommunist. Thus, it was split and the Liberal Party was formed.
With the depression coming to an end and World War II starting, many ethnic groups came together to support the war because they all had their own reasons. For instance, the “Poles and Czechs wanted their nations liberated from Nazism… [and] the Jews had special reason to support a war against Nazi Germany,” (192). When the War started, New York benefited from the war because men had to enter the armed forces and workers were needed for war-related businesses. People were hired to make clothes for the army and build ships. All racial and ethnic group benefited from the war. Even black workers were hired for the city’s bus and subway systems and black women were hired as nurses. However, even so, they faced much discrimination. Blacks were not able to benefit from rent controls and better housings. Blacks were still at the bottom of the city’s social and economic life.
In the chapter, “Resistance or Loyalty: The Visual Politics of Mine Okubo,” it can also be seen that wartime effect immigrant. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the lives of Japanese immigrants changed due to the tension between the USA and Japan. President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066, thus many Japanese were forced into concentration camps. Mine Okubo who was sent to those camps “produced more than two thousand sketchbook drawings, ( Lampert, pg.178).” of her time in the camp.”She reached a mass audience when Citizen 13660, her personal narrative about her camp experience, was published in 1946, shortly after the end of the war and her January 1944 release,”(179). The Citizen 13660 gave the Americans of what actually happened in the camps instead of the “clean” version that the government portrays. Furthermore, during this time of tension, Japanese immigrants and Americans were being tested of their loyalty to the USA. There were questionnaires that they have to answers related to if they were going to be loyal to America and those that answered yes would be released and those that answered no will have to stay in camps. However, some people didn’t answer not because that they aren’t loyal but for them, it was a way to resistance for the way they were treated. For instance, a Japanese named Frank Emi said: “under the present conditions and circumstances, I am unable to answer these questions” and a few others also resisted thus they were sentenced to four years at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas. Thus, through Mine Okubo’s Citizen 13660 and these cases that have happened, it can be seen that innocent Japanese Americans were treated unequally by the American government during times of war.
Overall, it can be seen that during these times of war, many immigrants or ethnic group are not often treated equally and many have to go through different types of hardships. From the Japanese being sent to concentration camps to Jewish people being attacked by the Bund, it really shows that conflicts and tensions rise in the homeland as well when there is a war and not everyone will get equal benefits and treatments during these times.
L.G
