A GUIDE: 1920′s Racism
For veritasrp
So I’d like to point out that I’m not a history buff, I know nothing about the 1920′s other than what I have seen on TV, this guide was created using various resources that have been listed. If something is believed to be incorrect or slightly off please take a look at the bibliography as that is where I have collated information from. Also my guide mainly focuses on the Western World and the United States.
THE AFTERMATH OF WWI
Okay so it seems that when WWI began all the white men were shipped off to war, leaving all their jobs free to whomever was left. Of course the only people that were left were women and black people. So when men returned to see that all their jobs had been taken by people ‘less than them’ they got butthurt and started becoming assholes. They felt they didn’t hold the power they once had and decided to regain such power through violence. This is basically how the violence against non-whites began in the 1920′s.
Not to mention the depression and prohibition, white men were just angry and they just needed someone to take their anger out on. Not only that but when the white men were off at war Southern African American people migrated north by the thousands. Black artists and writers in Harlem spawned what is known as the “New Negro” movement. Racial pride advanced as racial hatred escalated.
THE RISE OF THE KKK
Membership of the Klu Klux Klan grew to be about 5 million people over the United States in the 1920′s. At the same time there was the W.A.S.P.s which stands for White Anglo Saxon Protestant. The W.A.S.P.s campaigned to legally stop immigrants coming into the USA who were no-white, Protestant or from Western Europe. They managed to reduce immigration from Eastern Europe and China. The KKK took measures to a new level. They felt black people were considered a threat to the way of life. Think of it as how conservatives feel about homosexual people now, they believe the ‘gay way of life’ is a direct attack on religion.
Most of the members of the KKK where from the south. Many farmers believed their wages would increase if they drove black people from the state. Because black people were cheaper to employ. The KKK Used to terrorise black neighbourhoods, carrying flaming crosses and inflicting physical pain like whippings on black people, Jewish people, Catholics and even those that mixed with them.
Because the KKK was a secret organisation and many of the things they did were illegal they hid their identities. Many lawyers, judges, police officers and politicians were said to be members of the KKK.
The KKK burned down churches, murdered, raped and castrated the black population.
SEGREGATION
Also known as Jim Crow Laws is the separation of blacks and whites. These laws were enacted in the 1870′s after the reconstruction period. These laws lasted all the way to 1965. Whilst segregation was highly popular in southern states, the laws meant that blacks and whites could not eat together, drink together, go to the bathroom together or even sit on the same bus. This highly impacted 1920′s racism.
RACE RIOTS
Race riots in the 1920′s exploded throughout Southern and Northern cities. In the summer of 1919 there were 26 riots between April and October. In Chicago there were 38 killed and 500 injured. These riots continued throughout the 1920′s. In 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a white elevator operator claimed that a black man had attacked her. The man was arrested. White residents set homes on fire and vandalized black-owned businesses. Thirty-five city blocks were incinerated and more than 6,000 African-Americans were arrested.
RESOURCES
Jim Crow Laws
American History: Jim Crow Laws
Racism and Intolerance
The KKK and Racial Problems
DIVISIONS: Black and White
Racism in the 1920′s and 1930′s
Chicago Race Riot of 1919