THE OTHER AMERICA
Chapter 19 Section 4
WHITE FLIGHT
In the 1950’s millions of middle class Americans left the city and moved into
the surrounding suburbs which isolated them from other races and economic
classes.
While they were moving to the outskirts of the cities, the rural poor were
moving into them. Between 1945-1960 over 5 million African Americans had
moved from the rural South to bigger urban areas.
This crisis in the urban cities brought about what came to be known as the
“White Flight.” People feared the repercussions that this movement would
have. This move of the middle class made it harder on the poor whites and
non-whites for many reasons.
As the middle class moved to suburbia they took with them many
businesses, even more so tax payers. The urban cities could not afford to
maintain schools, public transportation, or police and fire departments.
THE INNER CITY LIFE
Because of the economic conditions in the urban areas, poverty began
to grow among the people living in the cities.
American’s in the suburbs however,
were not aware of the growing
economic decay that was taking
place in the inner cities. Some
suburban American’s even refused
to believe that poverty was possible
in the most powerful nation on the
planet.
At one point, the poverty line was set
Detroit 1950. “Skid Row” along Michigan Ave.
at 2,973 dollars for a family of four to
survive. To compare that to more
modern standards, in the year 2000
that number was $17,601!
URBAN RENEWAL
City life was dirty, over crowded, and depressing for most African, Latino, and
Native Americans. But one solution to the housing problem was urban renewal.
The National Housing Act of 1949 was part of this urban renewal, it called for the
tearing down of rundown neighborhoods and the construction of low income
housing.
The issue of city housing and development became such a big issue for
America that later there was a cabinet position created in the white house
named Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Even though there were efforts made to correct the city slums and make city life
better for the people who lived there not everyone was helped. New factories,
shopping centers, highways, and parks were created but there was not enough
housing built for the displaced residence of the cities.
Some were just moved from one slum to another because of the renewal. Some
would later call urban renewal, “urban removal”
MEXICANS SEEK EMPLOYMENT
In 1942 a large number of Mexican workers called “braceros” were allowed into the
United States to help in harvesting crops. They were not meant to be permanent
residence and were expected to leave the country in 1947.
Many of the Mexican workers stayed in the U.S. as illegals and hundreds of
thousands more crossed he border to escape Mexico’s terrible economic conditions.
Their presence in the U.S. was not always welcome and the illegal immigrants
became subject to a lot of prejudice. One of the most notorious instances was the
burial of Felix Longoria.
Longoria was a Mexican American WWII hero that was
killed in the Philippines. The only undertaker in his home
town refused to provide services to the family for his
burial.
This act of prejudice fueled Mexican American’s effort to
stop discrimination and get organized. They later formed the
G.I. Forum and the Unity League of California to help register
Mexican voters. This “Longoria Incident” made Mexican
Americans become political activists in America.
NATIVE AMERICAN STRUGGLES
For a long time U.S. policy toward Native American issues was simple, Americanize
them and assimilate them into white customs. However that later changed and the
policy began to move towards Native American autonomy.
As the Great Depression set in the
U.S. government wanted to stop
subsidizing the Native Americans.
Native Americans wanted two main
things for themselves, the same
rights and white men and to be able
to keep their own customs.
However, during WWII over 65 thousand Native Americans left the
reservation and took part in the war effort. As a result they faced a lot of
discrimination and when the war ended they stopped receiving their wages
and family allotments. Some even lost their tribal lands to private investors
for the natural resources there.
THE TERMINATION POLICY
In 1953 the federal government decided that it would no longer be responsible for
Native American tribes. This new approach to the issue became known as the “
termination policy.”
This policy terminated the federal government’s
economic support of Native Americans and distributed
the reservation lands to individual Native Americans. In
response the Bureau of Indian Affairs made efforts to
relocate Native Americans to the urban cities.
This policy was a down right failure in the end. Even
though a lot of Native Americans were successfully
relocated to the cites, many of them did not find jobs
because of their lack of job skills and racial prejudices.
The Native American city dwellers were also left without
access to medical care along with not being able to find
work. Over a decade later the termination policy was
finally abandoned in 1963.