Latsch

African American Wages in the U.S.
===African Americans have always had a rough time trying to survive in a predominantly white society. Throughout the years they've fought for their freedoms and fought for their right to live as equals amongst the white man. One of these equalities was to receive equal pay in the work force. Black men and women should be able to make just as much money as white people! This unfortunately did not happen. Through the 30's and 40's the great depression's damage was done and many black and white families were in poor condition. In the 50's and 60's the civil rights movement was going strong. The 70's onwards proved to be a period of great accomplishment for many black families. Unfortunately, discrimination continued to divide the U.S. throughout the years, even after the civil rights movement. I believe that the average wage of a typical black household is directly correlated with the time period and the location in which that family lived. There is a difference between a black mans wage in the north and another black mans wage in the sou th. So, what are the factors that come into play here and how do they affect the wages of many black families through out the years?===

1930-1940
===During the 30's and 40's many black man had a very limited amount of jobs they could choose from. Many black men were confined to farming, public works, carpentry, factory work and other menial jobs. Thanks to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policy, many men, black and white, were able to survive during the great depression. According to the microdata series census for 1940, the typical annual wage of a single black man was $537.45, apposed to the single white male who made $1,234.41 annually. [2] It was because of WWII, that many black men found jobs during the late 30's and most of the 40's. Even though many black families left the south for greater job opportunities in the north, African Americans were still hard pressed to find equality anywhere in the U.S. Many black families moved north to find jobs in the defense industries that were preparing for World War 2. Initially, many black men were turned down, but as the need for more men rose and the combat overseas escalated FDR signed into law order 8802, thus creating the Fair Employment Practice Committee. Order 8802 declared, "there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin." FEPC was then allowed to investigate complaints and take action against any employment discrimination. Keep in mind, order 8802 was only for stopping discrimination in defense industries. ===

African Americans. In 1954, the Supreme Court's decision in the Brown
===vs.media type="youtube" key="D2XHob_nVbw" height="315" width="420" align="right" Board of Education trial was that segregation was illegal. Blacks and any other person of ethnic background could not legally be denied equal rights. This meant that a black man could become a politician or a business owner if he so desired. It however isn't that easy. Vast amounts of money and schooling was needed for that kind of job title and money and good schooling was something most black families didn't have. Pertaining to education, A Mr. Traughber, who wrote to the Arkansas State Press, said this and I think you would agree with him, "...Whether facilities are equal or not, segregation damages a child's capacity to benefit by education. Segregation also leads to degradation of self-esteem and to frustration, which in turn leads to hostility and this hostility can be turned against the white race or against itself." [3] Sound familiar to anyone? Think about black neighborhoods now days. Ghettos are a segregated location for ethnic families in some of Americans most prized cities, the places were the most crimes and murders takes place. Why are there so many ethnic minorities living in ghettos in large American cities? It's because of the mass migration of the 1915's (WW1) and 1940's (WW2) north to weapons and defense industries to get jobs. When the need for these jobs seized, due to the lack of war, the factories had large lay offs and the minorities were the first to go. According to the ===

1970-1980
===Anti-segregation enforcement was put to the test when many republican presidents such as Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush were elected to power during this time. The unemployment rate for blacks was around 14 percent and was 7 percent for the whites in the 80s and according to the microdata series census for 1980, black men made about $11,404 annually, while white men made about $16,703 annually. [2] We're still seeing no signs of equality. So what did the 70's and 80's bring to the table? The 70's and 80's brought many gifted black folk to the spot light. Names such as B.B.King, Bob Marley, Hank Aaron and Michael Jackson were just a few blacks who were making a name for themselves in America during this time. President George Bush even named Gen. Colin Powell head of Joint Chiefs of Staff. Discrimination was still obviously a problem. I think many professional jobs were opening while menial jobs were becoming stagnant. Their were plenty factory workers employed but what about business men or lawyers, more professional jobs? I believe we've come to the schooling issue again. Many blacks were still doing poorly due to lack of schooling. ===

1990-today
===In the 90's there were 8.8 million black people, age 3-34, enrolled in school and 48.8 million white people age 3-34 enrolled in school in the U.S. [1]. So, how can we fix this or can we? At this point I'm thinking it has to be the location of residency. Large number of blacks live in poor conditions. Black teenagers need to move out of these bad areas and try to make something of themselves; not joining gangs or selling drugs on the streets.===





===For this last graph, we have black, white, Asian, and Hispanic people's weekly earnings int 2010. As we can see black people still don't make as much as whites, yet so very close. How about them Asians though! ===

So what does it all mean?
===From what I noticed throughout this project was that after all the years of discrimination and poor living conditions I can honestly say black people earned their freedoms and their equality and it's beginning to show. Things have only got better and I believe, in time, everyone will be on the same level. There will always be some people who make more than others, regardless of race. Discrimination will also always be a battle and there will always be the die-hard anti-(insert minority here) people. As long as strong anti-discrimination laws and enforced we can keep discrimination to a minimum. Integrated schools are also a plus, it keeps kids well versed in working with minorities of other races from a young age. Lastly, we need to some how get families out of the ghettos. There is no way a child is going to grow up and get a professional career living on the streets. Black people must now continue to forge their own way through life and keep their black pride alive. No one is saying they need to go to college or to get a professional job. If equality is all they're looking for, I believe they've got it. If they don't like how their life is, change it, you have that right now. ===

Work Cited
[1] http://allcountries.org/uscensus/246_school_enrollment_by_race_hispanic_origin.html [2] http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/maloney.african.american [3] http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.uwc.edu/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=Y65D5CQPMTMyNDUxODE1My44MTMyNToxOjEzOjE0My4yMzUuMTIuMjE&p_action=doc&s_lastnonissuequeryname=2&d_viewref=search&p_queryname=2&p_docnum=1&p_docref=v2:12F3CB549363AB38@EANX-13389D4E0BEC3730@2434177-13384CAF789A7698@7-137E1040D9D5110F@%22Segregation+In+Education%22 http://library.thinkquest.org/2667/Tour.htm http://www.bls.gov/ http://www.census.gov/