changing black strusture

Changing Black Strusture

The major theme of the reading is how the social, economic, and political lot of African-Americans in the United States developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The author seems to make a point of reiterating his opinion that whatever gains were made in these three facets of African-American life were mitigated by other factors, which accounts for the fact that there are still significant difficulties for African-Americans in these three areas. Therefore, while the theme of the reading is about the advancements African-Americans made in these three areas, it is also about the setbacks they suffered in these three areas as well.

The author marshals a variety of evidence to buttress this stance of his, the majority of which involves laboriously citing statistics and lengthy quotations. His central premise in supporting his theme is that industrialization substantially altered the fate of African-Americans socially, economically, and politically. Prior to industrialization there was a small, elite class of free northerners who, though still shunned and disparaged by Caucasians, were able to facilitate some status in these three areas that their enslaved counterparts in the South could not match. At the time, the only true political activity was in the attempts to stop the institution of slavery (Wilson, p. 123). Industrialization and the end of the Civil War resulted in all African-Americans gaining financial and social status (albeit it at the lowest ranking in society), although there was little political clout.

The author reinforces this viewpoint by referencing the integration efforts of men like Frederick Douglas (which constituted part of the aforementioned little political expression), and referencing the fact that because of rampant racism, African-Americans routinely had the worst jobs, lowest money, and lived in the poorest conditions. However, it was not their political efforts but those of the country in general which would improve their fates. World War I had a significant affect in all three areas of life because it opened up the opportunity for these people to obtain jobs vacated by soldiers. They also were able to receive some job training in skilled and semi-skilled work, but not as much as they were able to achieve during the Great Depression. During this era, African-Americans not only received a lot of governmental relief, but they also benefitted from a number of job programs that also gave them skills and office positions (Wilson, p. 126). Finally, World War II provided African-Americans another opportunity to take jobs vacated by soldiers and those away at war, while perhaps the single greatest contributing factor to an increase in the fate of these people in their social, economic and political standing was both legislature that outlawed discrimination in the work place in the years following World War II, as well as a conscientious effort of labor unions to include African-Americans and to offer racial equality for its members.