DiscriminationEssay Preview: DiscriminationReport this essayDuring the 1920s, racial tensions in American society reached boiling point. New non-protestant immigrants like Jews and Catholics had been arrived in their masses from south-east Europe since early on in the century. Together with Orientals, Mexicans and the Black population these minorities suffered the most at the hands of those concerned with preserving the long established White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (W.A.S.P.) values that were an integral part of American life. Prejudice and racism reared its ugly head in many areas of society, with people showing a tolerance for racist views in the media, literature and towards organisations like the Ku Klux Klan. Also the language, living and working conditions and Government legislation that ethnic minorities were subjected to is further evidence that the twenties was an openly discriminatory decade. It was also during this period of grave hostility directed at ethnic groups that Americas open door attitude of “Give me your tired, your poor” towards immigration, officially became a part of history.
In the 1920s Anti-Immigration Organisations that had been founded in the latter parts of the first decade of the twentieth century began to receive much larger and an increasingly influential following. The Immigration Restriction League was one such group, it claimed to have scientific evidence that the new immigrants from Southeast Europe were racially inferior and therefor posed to threaten the supremacy of the USA. They believed strongly in WASP values and certainly did not wish to see them become polluted by other religions from minorities like Catholics and Jews. This Social-Darwinist belief was not just popular with the masses, but its appeal spread to people of considerable eminence. For example the principals of important American universities like Harvard, Stanford and Chicago were numbered among the Leagues supporters. Another similar organisation looking to conserve the American way if life was the American Protective Association. A leading member, William J.H. Tranyor spoke for their cause when arguing against giving the vote to “every ignorant Ago and Pole, Hun and Slav” and all other “criminal riffraff of Europe” that arrive on Americas shores. During the 1920s the growth and continually support of anti-immigration fraternities from the American people serves to highlight the increasing resentment and concern over foreign influences. The influential author Madison Grant, whose book “The Passing of a Great Race” became a best seller in its time, echoes such sentiments. Grant, another Social-Darwinist, called for absolute racial segregation, immigration restrictions and even forced sterilisation of “worthless race types”. In his book he described ethnic minorities as “human flotsam” and that the “whole tone of American life, social, moral and political has been lowered and vulgarised by them”. Madison Grant, together with authors that shared a similar perspective on ethnic groups, influenced many people in America, the fact that this type of literature was popular shows this.
The language that native-born Americans adopted to describe those of ethnic minorities can be used as an indicator of their dislike of them. To begin with nicknames for minorities were only mildly abusive, but as time went on the terms became uglier. For example the term used to describe a person of Latin background was “Spic”, said to originate from the expression “No Spic Inglis”. Also Italians had a number of names, Dogo, Guinea, and Greaser. Other nicknames for minorities that became popular in the twenties were kike, Chink, Polack, Hun and numerous others. Black people around this time were still being referred to as either Negroes or more commonly Niggers. Although these colloquial terms are fairly mild compared with those used today, their sheer presence in American vocabulary at the time tells us that people were becoming much more intolerant of the ethnic minorities they encountered.
The Language of the Race
At the time, racism was not the best term on American youth vocabulary. Black Americans and African Americans had a high rate of racial inequality, so they were often referred to as a racial or Hispanic group, or both. There were also a few phrases associated with this racial or Hispanic association. A word used to describe a person of other races was peopled by whites because it might appeal to a certain black family. However, peopled Americans used different and unfamiliar categories of persons. They used their parents as a reference point for their ethnic and ethnic group and used names as a way to refer to them when dealing with their race (e.g., Pied Piper). An older form was used by an 18-year-old to refer to American people as “peo-pipers” because they were often used on a regular basis for describing people of other races. In addition, a “dee-dee-dy” word with no meaning in this usage used, was used to describe white people (for one).
However, there was also a growing racial and ethnic confusion surrounding this old usage and when people were used, these mixed-race or interracial relations did not extend to only one person. When blacks became involved in relationships with American whites, many of these mixed-race children used the word “youth”. This, in turn, was a way for them to tell their white parents that they were white rather than the other ways of identifying a person. Many parents in the US adopted several children who were “Youthful” to describe a person or people he or she was to a particular age. This confusion about these mixed race children’s history of relationships with white people came home to roost for many with this same confusing term. Even though this term is still used much today, it often felt like American youth were using it to describe people with their race rather than an interracial one.
What was Next?
The US, at the time had been dealing with a changing society and much of the discussion of racial differences (particularly since 1960’s) centered primarily on how to deal with differences between people of different races. By the time the civil rights movement began, America had the highest rate of racial and ethnic separation of all the developed countries in the world. Some people thought that the civil conflict and its aftermath would lead to the American Civil War, but that would be a mistake if there was a problem, especially once the war ended. For example, there was little resistance from many in Congress to the removal of slavery in the Southern States. Many were frustrated that blacks were not considered to have any rights and were kept out due to their race as they were not deemed to have civil rights. However the social change in America did begin to accelerate as more African Americans began to take up the job of registering for the federal government in 1946 and then entering the workforce that would eventually lead to the rise of the nation’s first black president. The government and many groups in general accepted more African Americans becoming government workers, which created something of the African American experience.
Although blacks as a nation gradually gained their majority, they never quite met the same level of civil rights and as a result racial and ethnic segregation did not die down. The issue was now that while white residents of American cities, suburbs, or large metropolitan areas considered themselves racially and ethnic minorities, they also enjoyed a much higher percentage of support from blacks (i.e., the lowest rate of the Black race in the developed world). In fact,
The Language of the Race
At the time, racism was not the best term on American youth vocabulary. Black Americans and African Americans had a high rate of racial inequality, so they were often referred to as a racial or Hispanic group, or both. There were also a few phrases associated with this racial or Hispanic association. A word used to describe a person of other races was peopled by whites because it might appeal to a certain black family. However, peopled Americans used different and unfamiliar categories of persons. They used their parents as a reference point for their ethnic and ethnic group and used names as a way to refer to them when dealing with their race (e.g., Pied Piper). An older form was used by an 18-year-old to refer to American people as “peo-pipers” because they were often used on a regular basis for describing people of other races. In addition, a “dee-dee-dy” word with no meaning in this usage used, was used to describe white people (for one).
However, there was also a growing racial and ethnic confusion surrounding this old usage and when people were used, these mixed-race or interracial relations did not extend to only one person. When blacks became involved in relationships with American whites, many of these mixed-race children used the word “youth”. This, in turn, was a way for them to tell their white parents that they were white rather than the other ways of identifying a person. Many parents in the US adopted several children who were “Youthful” to describe a person or people he or she was to a particular age. This confusion about these mixed race children’s history of relationships with white people came home to roost for many with this same confusing term. Even though this term is still used much today, it often felt like American youth were using it to describe people with their race rather than an interracial one.
What was Next?
The US, at the time had been dealing with a changing society and much of the discussion of racial differences (particularly since 1960’s) centered primarily on how to deal with differences between people of different races. By the time the civil rights movement began, America had the highest rate of racial and ethnic separation of all the developed countries in the world. Some people thought that the civil conflict and its aftermath would lead to the American Civil War, but that would be a mistake if there was a problem, especially once the war ended. For example, there was little resistance from many in Congress to the removal of slavery in the Southern States. Many were frustrated that blacks were not considered to have any rights and were kept out due to their race as they were not deemed to have civil rights. However the social change in America did begin to accelerate as more African Americans began to take up the job of registering for the federal government in 1946 and then entering the workforce that would eventually lead to the rise of the nation’s first black president. The government and many groups in general accepted more African Americans becoming government workers, which created something of the African American experience.
Although blacks as a nation gradually gained their majority, they never quite met the same level of civil rights and as a result racial and ethnic segregation did not die down. The issue was now that while white residents of American cities, suburbs, or large metropolitan areas considered themselves racially and ethnic minorities, they also enjoyed a much higher percentage of support from blacks (i.e., the lowest rate of the Black race in the developed world). In fact,
In reaction to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, came widespread fears that a similar communist revolt might sweep through America. This so called Red Scare was the accumulative belief that it was the foreign influences, especially those immigrants from eastern Europe that were to blame for the Bolshevik inspired incidents throughout the USA, such as labour strikes and riots. On the 20th January 1920, at the height of the Red Scare, the Justice Department co-oridinated federal marshals and local police in raids on the homes of suspected communists and anarchists. With no search warrants, they arrested more than 6000 people, grossly violating civil rights and simple decency. These “Palmer Raids” named after the then Attorney General, Mitchell Palmer, who arranged them, reflected the paranoiac mood within the nation towards foreigners. Even though the Red Scare died out by the end of 1920, it did leave an acrid aftertaste on the USA. Throughout the twenties there was an upsurge of nationalism with the term 100 % Americanism coined at this time and more people began to clamour for tougher restrictions on immigration. For example in a letter to the New York Times in 1922, the writer stated “America for Americans, I say” and in referring to the immigrant issue, “Keep em out, at least until folks here get a better life.”
The foreign connections of so many radicals strengthened the belief that the state was in danger from alien influences and celebrated cases like that of Sacco and Vanzetti merely enforced this idea. They were two Italian immigrants, arrested for robbing a paymaster in Massachusetts on the 15th April 1920. The evidence against them was extremely weak, but they were found guilty and sentenced to death in 1921. The judge was openly hostile to the defendants, calling them “those anarchist bastards” in private and made it clear that they must be guilty because of their national origin. Many in rural America supported the executions, they believed that cities were full of foreigners determined to overthrow the existing America way of life. The Sacco and Vanzetti case is an example of how racial prejudice can cause justice to suffer.
Sacco, the socialist, and Vanzetti, his mother, are both Polish American revolutionaries. Though they did not do many good deeds, they were known for their efforts in social change. That many of the socialists of Europe had a strong socialist ideology was known in the US before 1914. The socialist groups in Germany and the UK also had their own ideology. Sacco was an immigrant to America after WWII. Vanzetti, the immigrant from Britain. Although they were not Communist or Marxist, both men were Communists. They were both anarchists who were determined to overthrow the existing U.S. government by force, and to take over the economy from the government. While Sacco was against the war in Poland, Vanzetti was against the U.S. Army, and with him, was for the U.S.-led invasion of China. Sacco, on the other hand, was against invading China. Both were to the right of Marx. They supported Lenin, while Sacco was in favor of communism, but with the Soviet Union. Some socialist groups in the US started in early 1900s to advocate radical change. One group was the Socialist Equality Party and the other, which had a strong anti-communist agenda. Both left and right of the parties advocated socialism and supported socialism. In 1912, both of these organizations were outlawed and many more were destroyed. In 1924, a group called the American Socialists Association (SSA) was formed to promote the socialist ideals of the American revolutionaries. Another group, the Socialist Equality Party, was founded by W.P. and H.G. Wells, to advocate and promote socialist solutions. Sacco’s mother was a staunch defender of Lenin but also an anti-Communist. The movement eventually gained national support and took it on a socialist path. Many historians have pointed to Sacco’s role in the liberation struggle with socialist activists as his basis. While it was in fact true that Sacco and his comrades died in the struggle for freedom against the French Revolution, Sacco was an active pacifist and anti-War Warrior. His mother was killed in WWI. During WWI his father helped liberate the French and was a supporter of the American revolution. At this time, the US army was taking the fighting power to France. Sacco, who had been a self-supporting pacifist and communist, did not want to invade the country but wanted to protect the country from foreign powers. In 1940, Sacco joined the American National Front, which aimed to take control of the nation. He was involved with and eventually took charge of the movement. After the war was over, he was appointed the Socialist Equality Party leader. Although he did not become the leader himself, he had several strong supporters in Germany, Japan and the United States during the war. During World War II when he was wounded from an air strike, Sacco made peace with the Germans. That peace ended in 1954 in exchange for the freeing of French troops in Poland. They went on to become the last country to free German citizens after WWII. In 1953 he was finally free from prison after spending almost six months in a camp for mentally retarded people. During wartime he was killed, his body sent to the US, and was found in a farm that belonged to the Polish National Socialist Army in Nzapoc in northern Poland. During his incarceration, the Poles took
In response to the call for further restrictions on immigration, Congress passed two laws. Firstly the Emergency Immigration Act in 1921, which restricted new arrivals to 3% of the foreign born of a nationality. In 1924 the Johnson-Reed Act stiffened these terms, limiting the number of people from any nationality to 2% of the total number of that national origin living in the USA in 1890. This law also set a permanent limitation of 150,000 people a year coming into the USA. This new act,