Yo, is the New Deal racist?

Although the New Deal is not something that has occurred recently almost all of us have heard of the New Deal, learning about it on the surface in high school history classes. I would say majority of us just remembered a light definition to pass a vocabulary quiz. Well today we are going to take a much deeper dive into the programs enacted under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, speaking of things that should have been expressed to us during our climb through the education ranks. One could argue, although the programs were passed almost 100 years ago, the long-term effects can still be felt and seen today. The question in play is to see if the New Deal is racist and if so, was it intended to be, deeming it systemically racist.

So first we must start with a little on background on exactly what the New Deal was. The program consisted of a high amount of government interference regarding the economy. Therefore, the goal was to boost the economy on many fronts to help recover from the Great Depression. To put into perspective just how big of an impact the idea of the New Deal had on the African American community, it really shifted the political spectrum of our nation. At the time, many African American’s expressed loyalty to the Republican party due to Abraham Lincoln’s part in ending slavery. Then in 1936 FDR received about three-fourths of the African American vote according to Digital History. Now I am not going to get into the political implications of the New Deal in the long term, just the direct result from the six years of its implementation. I do think there is political implications that must be discussed though based on how the programs were able to be passed and the affects.

One important thing to note is FDR’s history on civil rights. One would describe this as modest at best. Many politicians at the time were very wishy washy when it comes to civil rights. Despite slavery being banned, being black in America at the time was not any easier. Segregation was still present, the country was highly divided, and lynching’s were taking place. As a result, this led to politicians playing both sides of the story to try to push their initiatives instead of standing up for what is right. FDR fell right into this category. He was never blatant with his stance on civil rights, never standing up for, never really arguing against. I would say not passing anti-lynching laws along with a lot of silence tells you everything you need to know in this situation. Even if FDR in his mind was 100% for equal rights, not speaking out, especially in that position of power, is not a pass. Many people close to him, including his wife, spoke up for the civil rights movement, so one could potentially gauge his stance by the people he surrounded himself with. How well was this documented by the media? One could argue the media back then is just as corrupt as it is today, even though it was not as submersed in one’s life. They too were very wishy washy, playing both sides, not trying to take a stance to alienate their viewers or readers, all about the bottom line. FDR knew he needed votes from whites in the south, so he played both sides of the spectrum publicly.

Now let us look at the actual programs enacted by the New Deal and their impacts on the African American community. First, it is very important to keep in mind that educational resources at the time for African American’s was not relatively close to those that were white. Segregation was still heavily present, little to no funding for African American schools, and the generational impacts upon education and skill development in the workforce were highly present from slavery. One of the first things the New Deal did was raise minimum wage levels above the market average (Powell). Sounds like a good idea, right? To put more money in the pockets of American workers to stimulate cash flow across the economy. Well, there was a caveat. Since companies were paying workers what some would deem an unreasonable amount based on the job requirements, the hiring process was extremely strict. Companies were guided to not only hire employees who met the minimum skill requirements but exceeded them (Powell). It was even deemed illegal to not follow these provisions (Powell). As a result, many African Americans were not even considered during the hiring process and even worse, fired from the jobs they currently held. It is hard to say how many African Americans were impacted and lost jobs, but the number had to be substantial and only delay economic and educational development for blacks in America.

Perhaps the most devastating of the programs enacted was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, also known as the AAA. Even with the abolishment of slavery, many blacks still worked in the agricultural industry. It is estimated that 40% of black workers made their living at the time as sharecroppers or tenant farmers according to Digital History. So, what the act consisted of was cutting down production on the land and increasing food prices until the market started to level out (Powell). As a result, not only did thousands of blacks lose their jobs, but then they had to pay hire prices for food. As you can see, it was extremely difficult for blacks to find a job across the country. The Wagner Act did also not help the situation, making labor union monopolies legal. This led to a lot of exclusion, only giving more hiring power within the workplace to a racist white majority.

The list of programs harming blacks goes on and on. One could even argue black’s economic situation was even better off during the Great Depression. Since New Deal polices made it more difficult for companies to hire, rather than easier, as we can see blacks were the first ones affected. Many of the problems with the other polices and programs stem from not being able to find or have a job. Finding a house was difficult because with no money it was hard to be offered a mortgage. In a seven-year span federal taxes tripled and Social Security taxes also discouraged employees from hiring (Powell). It was a continual chain effect that stemmed from being denied a stable and fair source of income.

Now as we mentioned, the ultimate question on the table is are these programs racist? I think based on everything provided and the undeniable negative impact, the answer is quite simple. I think we should still look at the situation from several different angles. First, let me be clear, as it is very evident, the programs were racist. Now comes the question, were they intended to be? I do not think we can say for absolute certainty that we know they were. Many of the policies seemed to directly target African Americans and favor prosperity for whites. You also have the complete shift of the voting preference of blacks across the country. So, the other question, as we now see the consequences, was this a political stunt? One could even deem that America itself was systemically racist, so no matter what plans were implemented they were going to favor whites and harm blacks just cause of the structure across the country. Now we see why the topic at hand is much more complex. As I said, we can’t know for absolute certainty if the programs were intended to be racist so all we can speak of are the facts, the results, and one can make their own assumption off those basis. We know all the chain effects from the lack of and loss of jobs. We have mentioned FDR playing both sides publicly, we do not know what he did behind closed doors, for his best political interest. Now I think, when looking at where the money handed out from the New Deal programs was spent, we can get a good gauge on what is going on. As we know, many blacks still lived in the south. Well the money from the spending programs was handed out to western and eastern states. Now why these states? No one knows for certain. One would think a spending program would be enabled to help those who need it most, well that was not done. FDR was running for re-election though and the states where the money was spent were deemed to be more of a decisive factor in the election results (Powell). So, was it a political ploy?

I think by the looks of things, it was some type of political tactic, which is sad to say. If it were not, the only other explanation would be that America was systemically racist. Now I do not disagree with that point by any means, America was systemically racist. The reason I do not believe that to be the answer in this situation, was because these programs were directed at the system itself. They were supposed to change the system, but instead they in many ways made it worse and enabled further systemic racism. The programs set back African American’s across the United States just as they were starting to gain the slightest glimmer of hope from an economic standpoint. I think one would even say many blacks are still facing the economic hardships the New Deal caused within the generations of their family. The idea of the New Deal sounded good on the surface, but as we take a deeper dive the program only enabled Americas racist roots, potentially for political gang, something our history books fail to tell us.

References

“African Americans and the New Deal.” Digital History, www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2.

“FDR and The New Deal.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/themes/fdr/.