The New Deal and Black Politics
Changing American Politics during the Great Depression
Hundreds of articles have already been written about Barack Obama’s historical race for the White House. There is no doubt that this upcoming 2008 presidential election has already resulted in a significant paradigm shift in American politics. However, this is not the first presidential election where Backs influenced the existing political landscape. In 1936, Eleanor Roosevelt recruited a new electorate, which included Blacks and women, into the Democratic Party and changed the political paradigm. That paradigm remained virtually unchanged for the remainder of the 20th century. Maybe it’s just me, maybe I’m just paranoid, but Black political influence did not just recently materialize out of thin air. It has been a progress-in-work since 1936.
Black Politics and Democratic Party
By the end of the 1920s northern political machines could no longer ignore the large numbers of newly-arrived Blacks and their growing political influence. In fact, it was this influence that made Oscar De Priest the first Black U.S. Congressman and thwarted a presidential nominee to the Supreme Court.
While most Blacks still considered themselves Republicans, the Democrats began courting Black votes. This courtship eventually led to the end of the exclusive political relationship between Republicans and the Black community. Still, the gamble of supporting Roosevelt and the Democrats did not pay immediate dividends.
The first disappointment occurred when southern relief administrators successfully kept many Blacks from accessing available relief programs. Their racist reasoning rested on the fear that the New Deal would make Blacks lazy. FDR also failed to support the introduction of any federal anti-lynching laws fearing the alienation of southern congressional Democrats.
Lastly, even though the New Deal’s Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) promoted soil conservation while making loans available to those farmers who reduced their cultivated acreage, it also led to expulsion from the farms of many Black families, many of whom still earned their living as sharecroppers and tenet farmers, without a clearly defined plan as to where they would go.
The Introduction of the Works Progress Administration
However, it was Roosevelt’s rejection of the dole in favor of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) and work relief that solidified his support among Blacks by 1936. These work programs provided jobs to thousands of unemployed Blacks. Even though Blacks were typically paid less than whites, they took pride in the programs and the projects they were assigned. In urban centers, like Cleveland, for example, the Federal government became the largest employer, through New Deal agencies, and built housing units that ultimately provided jobs and homes for Blacks and other minorities.
Even though Blacks continued to fear the racist dogma of southern Democrats, they saw something in the WPA and the Roosevelt-led Democrats that gave them hope. As a result, Blacks abandoned the Republicans en mass in 1936. Even though the New Deal fell short on many of its promises, these programs provided stability at a time when Black families, needed it most.
While Obama continues his historic quest for the White House, win or lose, American politics will never be the same again. The new paradigm will most likely include new political players whose constituents, regardless of race or gender, will demand equal access to the American Dream, whatever that may be.
Sources
Bennett, Lerone, Jr. Before the Mayflower. Penguin Books. 6th edition, 1988.
Sitkoff, Harvard. A New Deal for Blacks: The Emergence of Civil Rights as a National Issue. Oxford University Press: New York, 1978.
Sullivan, Patricia. Days of Hope: Race and Democracy in the New Deal Era. University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill, 1996.
Weiss, Nancy. Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: Black Politics in the Age of FDR. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey, 1983.
