Transcript THE OTHER AMERICA

THE POSTWAR
BOOM
THE AMERICAN DREAM
IN THE 1950S
John Naisbitt
SECTION 4:
THE OTHER AMERICA
Amidst the prosperity of the 1950s,
millions of Americans live in poverty.
Learning Objectives:
Section 4 - The Other America


1. Explain how the white migration to
the suburbs created an urban crisis.
2. Describe the efforts of minorities to
gain equal rights and fight poverty.
SECTION 4:
THE OTHER AMERICA


In 1962, nearly
one out of every
four Americans
was living below
the poverty level
Most of these
poor were the
elderly, single
women and
their children,
and/or minorities
SECTION
4
The Other America
The Urban Poor
White Flight
• 1962, 25% of Americans below poverty level
• Post WW II–1960, 5 million blacks go from rural
South to urban North
• White flight results in loss of businesses, tax
payers to cities
• Cities can no longer afford to maintain or improve:
- schools, public transportation, police and fire
departments
Continued . . .
NEXT
WHITE FLIGHT



In the 1950s, millions
of middle-class white
Americans left the
cities for the suburbs
At the same time
millions of African
American rural poor
migrated to the cities
The so-called “White
Flight” drained cities
of valuable resources,
money and taxes
GUIDED READING
The Other America
Decaying cities
Causes:
Solution Offered:
Effects:
White flight;
URBAN RENEWAL
Rundown
neighborhoods torn
down;
suburbanization;
remaining city residents
poorer than those that
left;
loss of property and
income taxes;
a decrease in the quality
of services
cleared areas not always
used for housing,
which led to housing
shortages
SECTION
4
continued
The Urban Poor
The Inner Cities
• Poverty grows rapidly in
decaying inner cities
• Poor economic conditions
lead to illness and terrible
conditions
NEXT
SECTION
4
continued
The Urban Poor
Urban Renewal
• Urban renewal—replace
rundown buildings with new lowincome housing
• Housing and Urban Development
Dept. created to improve
conditions
• Not enough housing built for
displaced people
NEXT
SECTION
4
Poverty Leads to Activism
Mexicans Seek Employment
• Many Southwest Mexicans
become U.S. citizens after
Mexican War
• 1942–47, Mexican braceros,
hired hands, allowed into U.S. to
work
• After war, many remain illegally;
many others enter to look for
work
Continued . . .
NEXT
The Longoria Incident
• Undertaker refuses funeral
services to Felix Longoria,
WW II veteran
• Outraged Mexican-American
veterans organize G.I. Forum
• Unity League of CA registers
voters, promotes responsive
candidates
Mexican-Americans


Operation Wetback was an immigration law
enforcement initiative created by Director of
the Immigration and Naturalization Service
Joseph Swing.
The program was implemented in May of 1954
by the U.S. Attorney General Herbert Brownell,
and utilized special tactics to combat the
problem of illegal border crossing and residence
in the United States by Mexican nationals
Mexican-Americans
Hernandez v. Texas, 347 U.S. 475 (1954),[1] was
a landmark United States Supreme Court case that
decided that Mexican Americans and all other racial
groups in the United States had equal protection
under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Social implications
The ruling was yet another step forward in the American
Civil Rights Movement and another hit to racial segregation
in the USA. This time, racial minorities other than African
Americans benefited from such a ruling. The ultimate
impact of this ruling was that now all racial groups of the
United States were protected under the 14th Amendment.
GUIDED READING
Causes:
Prejudice against
Hispanics;
Hard feelings toward
braceros who stayed to
work in the US after
WWII;
illegal aliens escaping
poor conditions in
Mexico
The Other America
Mexican Americans
Solutions:
The creation of the American G.I. Forum,
the Unity League of California, and voter
registration groups in other states
SECTION
4
continued
Poverty Leads to Activism
Native Americans Continue their Struggle
• During Depression, U.S. policy of Native American
autonomy
• National Congress of American Indians: civil rights,
maintain customs
• U.S. stops family allotments, wages; outsiders take
tribal lands
The Termination Policy
• Termination policy cuts economic support, gives
land to individuals
• Bureau of Indian Affairs helps resettlement in cities
• Termination policy is a failure; abandoned in 1963
NEXT
GUIDED READING
The Other America
Native Americans
Causes:
Solutions:
Effect:
A termination policy
adopted by the federal
government
The Bureau of Indian
Affairs began a
voluntary relocation
program to help Native
Americans find a place
to live and work and to
pay for moving and
living expenses.
Only 35,000 Native
Americans relocated in
the program;
many of them were
unable to find jobs;
the number of Native
Americans on state
welfare rolls soared