Political Sciences

Readings
From the Social Welfare: A History of American Response to Need text:
 Read Chapter 6, "The Depression and the New Deal: 1930–1940," pages
164–197.
From the Capella library:
 Read Barrow's 2007 article, "Forrester Blanchard Washington and His Advocacy
for African Americans in the New Deal," from Social Work, volume 52, issue 3,
pages 156–204.
From the Internet:
 Visit the Social Security website to read the article, "Historical Background and
Development of Social Security," which describes economic security from the
Ancient Greeks, English poor laws, and colonial America, up to the Obama
administration.
Optional
 You may wish to peruse History.com's "New Deal" website, featuring the Great
Depression, FDR's New Deal, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The Depression and the New Deal

1. Choose one effect from this week's readings that the Great
Depression had on men of color and women. Discuss one way that
the New Deal or The Social Security Act positively affected these
groups. How did the Social Security Act lead to a two-class system?
Is this benefit still in place today? Why or why not?

Response Guidelines

2. Respond to at least two of your peers, sharing your causes, effects,
and outcomes. Challenge or support the views of your peers
respectfully. ****MUST CITE

Peer 1- Men and women of color were significantly more affected than their
white counterparts during The Great Depression. For example, in regards to
agriculture, the number of farms lost over a ten year period (roughly 200, 000),
was roughly all black owned farms (Stern and Axinn, 2017). The percentage of

black owned farms fell from 15% to 12% between 1930-1940 (Stern and Axinn,
2017). Our text goes on to tell us that the number of white owned farms remained
relatively unchanged during that ten year period, meaning The Great Depression
had a much higher negative affect on men and women of color than it did on
white men and women.
The New Deal, set into motion by President Roosevelt, sought to improve the
economy during The Great Depression. It did lead to a few improvements for
men and women of color during this particularly hard time. Education for men
and women of color had be previously threatened by the lack of employment that
swept the nation, however, the New Deal allowed for the continuance of their
education.
The Social Security Act, signed into law in 1935, was a major legislative
achievement of The New Deal (Stern and Axinn, 2017). It provided insurance for
those unable to work due to old age or disability, promoted welfare of mothers
and children, covered loss of income due to unemployment, and advocated for
the "the encouragement of adequate state and local public health services."
(Stern and Axinn, 2017). This lead to a two-class system, those who worked and
paid into social security, and those who did not. The benefits of the Social
Security Act only extended to those in the workforce who paid into social
security. The disparity in benefits was further seen in those who it was extended
to inside of the workforce. Many men and women of color weren't extended the
same benefits as white men and women. They often times had a better change
of receiving social security benefits if they traveled north.
We still see the benefits of the Social Security Act in place today. Our text tells us
that it ultimately led to the creation of Medicaid and Medicare in 1965, and The
Affordable Care Act in 2010 (Axinn and Stern, 2017). However, the gap in
benefits is still very much in place today, and largely affects those who aren't
consistently part of the workforce. Their access to their benefits is directly
affected by their ability to work and participate in paying into social security.
References
Stern, M. J., & Axinn, J. (2018). Social welfare: A history of the American response to need (9th
ed.). New York, NY: Pearson

Peer2- During the Great Depression era, women and men of color were
impacted greatly. As the farm prices began to fall, black tenants were more likely
to face evictions. Also African American were evicted because of their
involvement with the southern tenant farm union. The Union negotiated fair

wages and work conditions for African