 for the first time. They took jobs traditionally held by black women such as maids, housekeepers, and cooks.
With the increasing loss of jobs, blacks became disproportionately represented in breadlines at relief centers. Not all impacts were economic. As black unemployment rose, membership in clubs, churches, and other organizations declined. Black society was unraveling and many personal relationships were lost.
Little Relief from Hoover
As the Depression was hitting black American laborers hard, some new opportunities for other blacks were appearing. Black representation in the federal government workforce increased in President Herbert Hoover’s (served 1929-1933) administration. Known as a humanitarian and a reformer, Hoover appointed more blacks to mid-level federal positions than his predecessors. He also began a program to fight the high illiteracy rate among blacks. Hoover argued for the equal opportunity of both black and white sharecroppers to own land. However, Hoover’s economic policies did little to help most black Americans. In 1930 Hoover created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) to turn the struggling economy around. But the RFC primarily gave loans to railroads, banks, and insurance companies with hope they would create new businesses and jobs. The effort to boost the economy did not trickle down to black workers as Hoover had envisioned.
The 1932 Presidential Election
Hoover’s policies did little to economically help black Americans. He even refused to be photographed with blacks. Still, 66 percent of blacks who voted cast their ballots for Hoover over Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election.
Roosevelt’s campaign had offered little to blacks. Despite pressure from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Democratic Party refused to adopt a position prohibiting racial discrimination. In fact a stark level of racism was openly displayed in the Democratic Party. For this reason it was in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s best interest during his 1932 presidential bid to not express any anti-discrimination feelings. Being a northern Democrat, Roosevelt was careful not to say anything that would upset southern party leaders and lose their support. Roosevelt’s campaign staff had no blacks. He even issued a public statement earlier in 1929 denying he had eaten lunch with blacks. Earlier yet he had quietly stood by as President Woodrow Wilson (served 1913-1921) instituted a racial segregation system in the Navy during World War I (1914-1918).
No Relief from the First New Deal
Despite the black vote overwhelmingly going to Hoover, Roosevelt readily won the presidency. Once in office President Roosevelt continued an effort to not disturb southern Democrats. Early New Deal programs did not address the plight of black America directly. Any efforts by him to improve race relations, Roosevelt believed, would significantly undercut support for his main economic recovery measures. Southern support in Congress would be lost. If the critical economic legislation did not pass, both white and black Americans would be hurt. Therefore, President Roosevelt resolutely refused to make civil rights and racial equality a priority for the New Deal.
With no New Deal legislation addressing racial discrimination, discriminatory practices were widespread in the new programs. For example, many of the National Recovery Administration’s (NRA) programs establishing standard wage rates did less to help blacks than whites. Many black jobs were still in the South where regional wage rates were established lower than other regions of the country. In fact the program did not even cover many black occupations such as farm labor and domestic helpers. Consequently, the NRA programs in effect perpetuated racial pay discrimination. Even in situations where blacks might receive equal pay as whites, it often meant unemployed whites would replace the blacks. Or, businesses simply ignored the NRA guidelines and paid the white workers more than blacks for the same jobs. They argued