3.2.4

Benefits

Test yourself

Social Security

Social security in America discriminated against black people.

Illustrative background for The Federal Relief Administration (FERA) Illustrative background for The Federal Relief Administration (FERA) ?? "content

The Federal Relief Administration (FERA)

  • The FERA was created in 1933 and was under the leadership of Harry Hopkins.
  • The FERA spent $4000 million to help the unemployed through work relief projects but this was not enough to effectively help everyone.
    • It gave roughly $25 a month to a family when the average monthly wage was $100.
  • Traditional views remained amongst the authority that poverty was due to laziness and people had brought it on themselves.
  • In 1935, 3.5 million black people received help from the administration.
Illustrative background for Racism in FERA Illustrative background for Racism in FERA ?? "content

Racism in FERA

  • Racism existed within FERA.
  • Subsidence wages were almost a third lower for black families compared to those of white families.
    • In Atlanta, white families received $32.66 a month and African American families received $19.29 per month.
    • The FERA was closed down in 1935.
Illustrative background for Social Security Act 1935Illustrative background for Social Security Act 1935 ?? "content

Social Security Act 1935

  • The Social Security Act established welfare payments for those who were in need, such as people who had lost their job or who were too old or sick to work.
  • Social Security also established aid programmes for the physically disadvantaged and for families with dependent children.
  • Although the system of social security discriminated against black people and the relief that it offered was too little, the Social Security Act showed a change in the way the government operated.
Illustrative background for Limitations to Social Security Illustrative background for Limitations to Social Security ?? "content

Limitations to Social Security

  • Social security was not a total cure for the economic deprivation shared by so many Americans during the depression.
  • The pensions given to the elderly were not paid until 1940 and varied massively depending on how much people had paid into the scheme (like a tax).
  • The unemployment benefits that people received were very low and were only given for 16 weeks.
  • The amount given to families with children varied massively depending on where the families lived.
  • Certain jobs were not eligible for the scheme, especially the ones that many black people had.

Jump to other topics

1‘Free at Last’ 1865-77

1.1The Thirteenth Amendment

1.1.1The Civil War & The Thirteenth Amendment

1.1.2The Impact of the Civil War

1.1.3Economic, Political & Social Position of Ex-Slaves

1.1.4Political Settlement & Andrew Johnson

1.2Radical Reconstruction, 1867-77

1.2.1The Fourteenth Amendment

1.2.2The Fifteenth Amendment & The Civil Rights Act

1.3The Backlash

1.3.1White Supremacy Groups

1.3.2The End of Reconstruction 1887

2The Triumph of ‘Jim Crow’ 1883-c1890

2.1Jim Crow Laws & Civil Rights Cases

2.1.1Jim Crow Laws

2.1.2Voting Rights

2.1.3Scientific Racism

2.1.4Civil Rights Cases

2.2Resistance and Migration

2.2.1The Northern States & Black Resistance

2.2.2Early Migration

2.2.3The Great Migration

2.2.4Race Riots

2.2.5Migration Case Study: Harlem

3The New Deal and Race Relations, 1933–41

3.1Failure to Address Black Grievances

3.1.1The Democrat Party & the Anti-Lynching Bill

3.2The New Deal

3.2.1The New Deal

3.2.2The Alphabet Agencies

3.2.3The PWA, WPA & the NYA

3.2.4Benefits

3.2.5Impact of the New Deal & Eleanor Roosevelt

3.2.6Gone With the Wind

3.3The Second World War

3.3.1The Experience of War

3.3.2The Home Front

3.3.3The White Flight

3.3.4Restrictive Covenants

4‘I have a dream’, 1954–68

4.1Civil Rights Activities, 1954–63

4.1.1The Desegregation of Schools

4.1.2The Montgomery Bus Boycott

4.1.3SCLC & Birmingham

4.1.4SNCC

4.1.5CORE

4.2Civil Rights 1964-68

4.2.1Civil Rights Act 1964 & Voting Act 1965

4.2.2Ghettos & Poverty

4.2.31966 - 1968

4.3Malcolm X & The Black Panthers

4.3.1The Nation of Islam & Malcolm X

4.3.2Divisions in the Civil Rights Movement

4.3.3The Black Panthers

4.4Literature, Film & Television

4.4.1Racial Attitudes in Literature from 1850-2009

4.4.2Racial Attitudes in Film from 1850-2009

4.4.3Racial Attitudes in Television from 1850-2009

5Obama's Campaign for the Presidency, 2004–09

5.1The Late 20th Century

5.1.1Migration Back to the South in the 20th Century

5.1.2The Status of Black People 1968-2009

5.2Barack Obama & his Political Career

5.2.1Barack Obama's Life

5.2.2Senator for Illinois

5.2.3Running as Presidential Candidate

5.3Reasons for Obama's Victory

5.3.1Reasons for Vicotry

5.3.2The Significance of Obama's Victory

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The PWA, WPA & the NYA

Impact of the New Deal & Eleanor Roosevelt