The Great Depression and The New Deal: 1930-1950

1930

  • Young Negroes Cooperative League

  • Founded to respond to disparities exacerbated by the Great Depression in order to advocate for economic equality

  • Ella Baker, an important figure in the Civil Rights movement, was a founder and eventually elected as national director in 1931

  • Baker utilized the YNCL to advocate equality within consumerism co-operatives, especially for Black women

1935

  • Discrimination within worker protection and social security laws

  • Wagner Act helped white workers unionize, excluded nonwhite people, blocking opportunities for Black Americans to have higher-paying jobs

  • Social Security Act provided a safety net to millions of workers but denied benefits to domestic and agricultural workers, which disproportionately restricted access to people of color

1944

  • GI Bill

  • This bill provided benefits to Veterans that included college tuition, low-cost home loans, and unemployment insurance.

  • Black Veterans were systemically denied GI benefits, which significantly widened disparities related to wealth and education along racial lines

Melanie Allen