Introduction
After 1945, American soldiers returned from the Second World War that had just ended. Their return plunged the nation into a state of economic boom in the housing sector. The economic boom transpired due to the availability of benefits acquired by veterans from the war. However, the period witnessed high levels of racial discrimination against the Black Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Mexican Americans, whom the White Americans deemed as the minority groups.
In this view, the concept of race defined the United States history just after the Second World War because it formed the basis of employment, acquisition of property, and attainment of leadership positions. Therefore, the essay explains that race is concept that is more important than class in understanding American history after 1945.
Overview
Race is a concept that highlights the American history after the Second World War. After 1945, America went through a period when racism was highly pronounced. During the period, the Whites believed that people from the minority groups were lesser beings than those from the majority groups (Cowie 49).
The minority groups were in the category of marginalized groups and many services provided by the federal government went to the White Americans. Areas such as employment, education, property ownership, and leadership were a preserve of the White Americans. Therefore, race is a concept that best explains the history of America after the Second World War.
Discrimination in Employment
The minority groups in the United States experienced and endured discrimination in employment sector due to the institutionalized racism. The federal government enacted and passed laws that denied the minority groups the chance to work in the United States. The laws governed the terms of employment, working conditions, as well as salaries and wages. According to Sugrue, “Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York played a decisive role in deepening racial inequality in the city” (86).
Moreover, the federal government and private employers were reluctant or unwilling to hire employees of African, Asian, or Mexican origins. Therefore, a number of people from the minority groups worked in plantations such as rice fields, which had poor working conditions and low wages. Most of the employees from the minority groups received very little wages, and subjected to hard work and harsh treatment as opposed to employees from the majority groups.
The White Americans discriminated against the minority groups making them victims of racism in the United States. The federal government redlined the minorities and created a harsh working environment for them.
The Native Americans received harsh and inhuman treatment from their employers or superiors who perceived them as unimportant beings basing on their color or ethnical background. In workplaces, employers or superiors overlooked employees from the minority groups in aspects such as promotion and increment of salaries or wages. The racial disparity in promotion and salary or wage increments took place irrespective of the performance of the employees from the minority groups.
Therefore, unemployed members of the minority groups demonstrated their anger through riots and strikes organized by unions in an attempt to communicate their grievances to the federal government (Cowie 225). Thus, the minority groups experienced pronounced levels of racial discrimination in places of work orchestrated by the federal government and the private sector. The riots and demonstrations led to the loss of lives and eventually recognition of the minority rights.
Discrimination in Housing
Soon after the Second World War, the minority groups became the main target of discrimination under the basis of race and place of origin. The United States federal government introduced policies that segregated people from the minority groups and prevented them from accessing good houses. The federal government limited the access of the minority groups to good housing using the housing administration, which was a body charged with the provision of shelter to the citizens of the United States.
In an attempt to limit equal access to good housing among minority groups, the federal government denied them low-interest loans and forcefully acquired their houses. Sugrue outlines that “Detroit’s public housing was racially segregated” (86). Furthermore, the boom from veterans of the Second World War worsened the housing problem as houses became scarce; hence, cases of discrimination quickly emerged with the scramble for the few available houses.
Most of the White Americans who were house owners declined application for housing from minority groups, but instead accepted applications from White American tenants. Mortgage companies also tailored their policies in a manner that favored the White Americans in the United States.
As a result, many potential house owners from the minority groups found it very difficult to acquire good houses because mortgage prices were high and favored the White Americans. Cowie explains that Martin Luther King Junior campaigned “to support the striking sanitation workers as a building block in ‘poor people campaign,’ a new march in Washington that would be a Selma-like movement on economic issues” (65).
Therefore, minority groups used unions to present their grievances to the government. Additionally, the minority groups lost their houses through forceful acquisition, deception, and fraud to the White Americans. Racial discrimination in the housing sector forced the minority groups to seek shelter in camps and shanties where the living conditions were poor. In some cases where the minority groups managed to get houses, they paid higher amounts of rent than what their White counterparts did.
Discrimination in Ownership of Property
After 1945, policies designed by the federal government of the United States favored the Whites and discriminated against the minority groups. Ownership of property among minority groups became a very complex and difficult affair for officials in the government declined their proposals, deceived them, and refused to help them acquire property in the United States.
Although a few members of the minority group had the limited access to property acquisition, the state frequently confiscated their properties and declared them as illegal. Unfair treatment had its basis on the color and appearance of the individuals because of their racial background (Sugrue 8).
During the period after 1945, the federal laws and policies prohibited ownership of property by the minority groups. One of the factors that contributed to the prohibition is the misconceptions held by White Americans concerning the minority groups.
Property owners, managers, and agents discriminated against the minority groups in the sale of properties and business outlets. As a result, many Americans of African, Asian, and Mexican origins failed to acquire properties during the period.
Failure to acquire properties and business outlets by the Africans, Asians, and Mexicans rendered them poor and greatly affected their living conditions. According to Cowie, “Congress for the first time since it went democratic in 1932 passed a tax cut not to redistribute wealth, but to give relief to the middle upper class, suggesting a very new mood among the democrats more broadly” (257).
Therefore, the minority groups in the United States endured discrimination and enjoyed limited rights of property ownership. Some of the ways that the Whites exercised racism included refusal to sell or rent their houses and unequal valuation and appraisal of property. Furthermore, other White Americans who were property owners provided different terms and conditions for the minorities, whereas banks refused to provide loans to the Asians, Africans, and Mexicans living in the United States.
Discrimination in Education
Racial discrimination also affected the education sector since many institutions of learning had some forms of racial segregation. After 1945, many schools in the United States belonged to either the White Americans or the minority groups. The federal government discouraged students of color from studying in schools designated for the White American students. Teachers and trainers administered harsh and inhumane punishment on the children from Asian, African, and Mexican origins (Cowie 11).
In addition, trainers entrenched racisms in schools, as they perceived children from minority groups as lesser beings than their White counterparts. Therefore, the trainers gave biased treatment in training, discipline, and grading of the students. Due to the misconceptions held by the students concerning the attitudes displayed by their parents, the White Americans students undermined their colleagues from the minority groups.
The prejudice, which students from minority groups received from their colleagues, led to poor relationships among students in schools and social places where they interacted. “The effects of racial discrimination were evident as they highlight racial differences in urban streets and workplaces” (Sugrue 6). Therefore, the prejudice of students from minority groups also lowered their self-esteem and affected their performance.
Moreover, another form of racial discrimination that the state displayed during the period after 1945 was underdevelopment and the absence of good learning facilities in schools designed for the minority groups and presence of good facilities and good infrastructure in learning institutions designed for the White Americans. Teachers in schools offering education to the minority students experienced challenges in terms of lack of teaching resources and funds.
Teachers mainly from the minority groups joined unions and voiced their grievances to the federal government. Furthermore, educational loans and sponsorships were available to the White American students only, while the children from the minority groups usually dropped out of school or performed poorly due to insufficient funds to facilitate their education or poor quality of learning facilities.
Discrimination in Leadership
Members of the minority group who wanted to vie for leadership positions in the United States also experienced racial discrimination. During and after 1945, the White Americans believed that people from the minority groups were unable to provide good governance and leadership. Therefore, any member of the minority group who attempted to vie for any political or leadership position was discouraged and intimidated by the White Americans who formed the majority group.
As Martin Luther King Junior fought against racial discrimination, “Robert Kennedy admired King’s commitment to unite the poor whites and the poor blacks into what the civil rights believed it would a ‘powerful new alliance’ that transcended racial integration and placed social justice on an economic footing” (Cowie 65). Additionally, some states in the United States barred members of minority groups and women from casting their votes.
As the federal government denied the minorities their voting rights, it implies that it was impossible for any member of the minority group to win and get a leadership position. Thus, members of the minority who tried to campaign failed due lack of support from the federal government and voters.
Aspiring leaders from the minority groups who tried to vie for leadership positions received discouragement from the federal government or lacked adequate funds to facilitate their campaigns. The federal government preferred the White Americans, but discriminated against the Native Americans, Asians, Africans, or Mexicans.
One of the main factors that contributed to the preference was the misconception held by the White Americans who believed that women and minority groups did not have capacity to take leadership positions. According to Cowie, leaders from the minority group who tried to campaign were the subject of ridicule and discouragement by the state and the White Americans (63).
In some cases, the White Americans booed the leaders from minority groups in rallies and conferences during campaigns. Therefore, the minority groups remained as marginalized members of the American society for the larger part of the 20th century, after the Second World War.
Conclusion
After the Second World War in 1945, America experienced economic boom in the housing sector, which resulted from the pension that war veterans received. Housing and economic boom led to a sharp increase in the demand for housing and affected the economy of the United States. Besides, in the period preceding the Second World War witnessed high levels of discrimination against races from Africa, Asia, and Latin America as the White Americans deemed them as minority groups.
The White Americans exercised racial discrimination in learning institutions, workplaces, and social places such as hospitals and churches. Americans from the minority groups worked in plantations and construction industry as casual laborers where they received meager income.
Works Cited
Cowie, Jefferson. Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class. New York: The New Press, 2013. Print.
Sugrue, Thomas. The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. New York: Princeton University Press, 2010. Print.