American Odyssey

American Odyssey Chapter 18 The Postwar Era Section 3: Poverty and Plenty

Daily Agenda • Current event presentation(s) • Section two in chapter eighteen from the American Odyssey • “The Good Wife’s Guide” cooperative learning project

The Invisible Poor (p. 619) • The prosperity of the Postwar Era concealed a culture of poverty in the United States. • During this time of prosperity, many Americans deemed that poverty was almost eliminated from society.

The Invisible Poor (p. 619) • In 1962, Michael Harrington shocked prosperous Americans with this revealing book, The Other America. The Other America put faces on the 50 million Americans trapped in the cycle of poverty.

Discussion Question • How might poverty in the 1950’s have been more difficult to address than poverty during the Depression?

The Culture of Poverty (p. 620-621) • During the Depression, there were many social programs to help Americans out of poverty. • Americans who were trapped in poverty during the 1950’s did not have access to social programs to help them out of the cycle of poverty.

The Culture of Poverty (p. 620-621) • The reasons for poverty varied: • Long-standing racial and ethnic prejudices • Joblessness in rural areas, such as Appalachia • Displacement of Native Americans from reservations • Lack of Social Security coverage for a growing number of elderly.

The Culture of Poverty (p. 620-621) Poverty in Appalachia

The Culture of Poverty (p. 620-621) • The type of people in poverty ranged from the very young to the very old. • Many children were born in poverty and knew no other way. • The elderly grew into poverty as modern medicine prolonged their lives and technological progress put them out of work.

The Culture of Poverty (p. 620-621) • Changes in farming and mining devastated parts of rural America. • Those who were fortunate to escape to the cities often found themselves in overcrowded housing projects where large families with low incomes received priority. • In some cases, housing projects actually contributed to the cycle of poverty.

The African American Experience (p. 621-622) • In addition to being poor, African Americans had to contend with deep-seated racial prejudice. • African American farmers suffered the same poverty as their white counterparts, but they also faced the terrible racial prejudice of the Ku Klux Klan.

The African American Experience (p. 621-622) • African Americans carried this fear with them when they migrated to Northern cities. Here racial prejudice forced them into urban ghettos and the lowest-paying jobs. • Even African American doctors and lawyers often found it difficult to practice anywhere but in African American neighborhoods.

Discussion Question • Why were African Americans more “invisible” than other poverty-stricken Americans?

Hispanic Hardship (p.622-623) • During this time period, Spanish-speaking Americans made up the second largest minority group. • The language barrier often slowed their assimilation in the United States, they rarely felt politically secure.

Hispanic Hardship (p.622-623) • Mexican Americans and immigrants from Mexico were the largest group of migrant farm workers. • Some immigrants entered the United States legally under the bracero program –a World War II agreement with Mexico, which allowed seasonal immigration of farm workers.

Hispanic Hardship (p.622-623) • In 1953, however, the United States launched Operation Wetback to deport illegal Mexican aliens. • In the process, Immigration and Naturalization Service officials-and did-stop any Mexican American and demand proof of citizenship.

Displaced Native Americans (p.624) • Native Americans were one of America’s smallest, poorest, and most ignored minority groups. • In 1953, the government worsened their plight by adopting the termination policy, which resulted in the loss of thousands of acres of reservation lands. • The government helped Native Americans leave the reservations through the Voluntary Relocation Program. However, this was wrenching to their culture.

American Odyssey