The entire world being in ruins after the WWII, the necessity for integration was obvious. It was only with the help of cooperation that people could restore the societal order and renew the economy. However, the integration processes in the city differed from those in the suburbs greatly. Because of the greater challenges, which stood in front of the residents of the city, they had to make a much greater effort in striving for integration compared to the dwellers of the suburbs.
The process of suburbanization, which swept the entire United States, explained the emphasis that was put on the U.S. suburbia at the time (Sugrue 210). The phenomenon of Baby Boom, which occurred after the end of the WWII in the epoch of the same name, also contributed to creating the gap between the development of suburbia and the city centers. With a much stronger stress on family values as opposed to the concerns related to business, the Baby Boom Era has launched a major campaign for restoring the U.S. suburbia from the devastation that the WWII had led it to. The integration of the economy, on the contrary, was occurring at a much slower pace, which resulted in the delay of the urbanization process (Jackson 230).
Likewise, the politics of homeownership and the principles of race segregation, which were dominant at the time, posed a range of obstacles on the way of the state’s urbanization (Surgue 211). As a result, the lack of quality in the execution of these policies could be observed; by enhancing care for the suburban residents, the U.S. government brought the quality of the services provided by the state industries down a few notches: “In each case, the actual design features were less important than the fact that they were mass-produced and thus priced within the reach of the middle class” (Jackson 236). The resulting lack of struggle for integration within the city as opposed to the one in the country was the outcome. In order to launch the urbanization process, the United States needed to reconsider the social principles that the postwar society was guided by.
Responses to Other Students
Student #1 has outlined the conflict between the postwar cities and suburbs in a rather clear and concise manner. The key factors affecting the phenomenon have been listed in the response; more to the point, the Student #1 has managed to tie in the political, economic, and sociocultural factors into the analysis in order to provide a single background for the struggle for integration to develop in the post-WWII era. Particularly, the mentioning of the open housing issue is a major advantage of the argument, since it helps gain a better understanding of the economic implications of the post-WWII policies.
(Response to Student #1)
By shedding light on the discrimination issue, which was a common phenomenon in the Baby Boom epoch, Student #2 provides an in-depth social analysis of the suburban integration phenomenon that could be observed after the end of the WWII. The social concerns, particularly, the emphasis on the family values, and the ensuing policies regarding the economic facilities for the suburbia residents, have been explained with an outstanding clarity and in a very graphic manner. Student #2 has proven that the post-WWII economic strategies featured a considerable lack of justice when considering the situation that the urban residents had to deal with.
Works Cited
Jackson, Kenneth T. “The Baby Boom and the Age of the Subdivision.” Grabgrass Frontier: the Suburbanization of the United States. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1985. 231–244. Print.
Sugrue, Thomas J. “’Homeowners’ Rights’: White Resistance and the Rise of Antiliberalism.” Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. 209–229. Print.