The Other America PDF copy.pdf Mofule 23

History

1. The Other America
Lesson 4, Module 22

2. Vocabulary / Key Terms
●Urban Renewal
●Termination Policy

3. The Ones Who Struggled
●Nearly 1 in 4 Americans
lived below the poverty
line.
●“Poverty Line” means a
certain amount of yearly
income that can be defined
as poverty / being poor.
●Most of these people were
minorities, farmers, the
elderly, and single women.

4. Farmers Struggle (No Grain, No Gain)
●Farms grew more crops but
made less money from
1950-1960.
●New technologies gradually
replaced some farmers.
●Between 1945 - 1960:
○Around 5 million African
Americans moved from the
South to the cities.

5. WRITE ON A PIECE OF PAPER:
What was one reason for farmers moving to the city?

Give an example of technology leading to
unemployment.

Between 1945 and 1960, how many African Americans
moved from the South to the cities?

6. White Flight
●“White Flight” refers to
white Americans leaving one
location and settling in
another.
●Millions of white Americans
moved to the suburbs.
●They took their resources
from the city to the
suburbs, as well.

7. White Flight
●They took their resources
from the city to the
suburbs, as well.

●There was a large shift /
transfer of wealth from
American cities to American
suburbs.

8. What Do You Notice About This Chart?

9. After the White Flight
●With less wealth in the
cities, many cities
struggled to maintain
schools, streets, police,
and fire departments.

●Less wealth also meant less
money made by the
government from taxes.

10. The Inner City
●While poverty grew in the
inner cities, many suburban
Americans didn’t even know
this was happening.

●Many refused to believe
poverty even existed and
saw the US as the richest
nation on Earth.

11. Urban Renewal
●Most minority groups in the
cities lived in dirty and
crowded slums (poor
neighborhoods).

●Urban Renewal:
This idea was to make
low-income housing to fix
the housing issues in the
cities.

12. Urban Renewal
●The Housing Act of 1949 was
meant to give “a decent
home for every family.”

●The Office of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) was
made later to improve
conditions in the cities.

13. Urban Renewal
●Newly made buildings were
rarely new places for
living, however.

●Most poor people usually
had no choice but to move
from one poor area to
another poor area.

14. Answer the Following Questions:
1.What group[s] of Americans were most affected by
the poor housing in the inner cities?

2.Why do you think many poor people ended up still
moving into another poor community rather than a
wealthy one?

15. Poverty Leads to Activism
●Despite poverty and
persecution, minorities
pushed for more rights.

●Mexican-American and Native
American citizens pushed
for better rights after
being inspired by the
African American civil
rights movement.

16. Mexicans Seek Employment
●Mexicans had been in the US
since the US took over
nearly half of Mexico in
the 1800s.

●During WW2, many moved to
work in the US under the
braceros (hired hands)
program.

17. Mexicans Seek Employment
●The Mexicans in the
braceros program were
expected to leave after
their visas expired.

●Despite this, many stayed
illegally and continued to
work.

18. ●Felix Longoria was a
Mexican-American soldier
who died fighting for the
US in WW2 against the
Japanese.

●His family lived in Texas
and tried to find someone
to bury him.
The Longoria Incident

19. The Longoria Incident
●The only undertaker (the
one who buries) in his
hometown refused to bury
him.

●This caused massive outrage
throughout the US.

20. ●Due to this incident, much
of the country was angry.

●In 1948, Mexican-Americans
made the American G.I.
Forum to push for better
rights for Mexican-American
veterans.
The Longoria Incident

21. The Longoria Incident
●Eventually, Felix Longoria
was buried in Arlington
National Cemetery.

●Soon after,
Mexican-American veterans
were given the same
benefits as white veterans.

22. Answer the Following Questions Below
1.What was the name of the program that brought a lot of
Mexicans to the United States and what was it for?

2.What did many of the people in the program from #1 do
after their visas expired?

3.Why were people outraged over the refusal to bury
Felix Longoria?

23. Native Americans Continue Their Struggle
●From 1887 to 1934, the US
government had a policy of
“Americanization” for
Native Americans.

●“Americanization” = “To
make into Americans.”

●In 1934, this policy was
done away with.

24. Native Americans Continue Their Struggle
●The Indian Reorganization Act
was passed in 1934.

●Prior to this, in 1924, Natives
were finally given citizenship
after 148 years.

●In 1944, Natives made the
National Congress of American
Indians.

25. Native Americans Continue Their Struggle
●This Native Congress had
two main goals:
○Ensure that Natives had
the same rights as white
Americans.
○Make sure Native
Reservations had
autonomy (ability to
govern themselves).

26. Native Americans Continue Their Struggle
What is a “Reservation?”
●A reservation is a piece of
land given to Native
Americans where they can
govern themselves.

●In reality, many reservations
still answered to the US
government and were not
allowed to govern themselves.

27. Native Americans Continue Their Struggle
●During WW2, around 65,000
Natives fought in the US
military.

●When the war ended, Natives
stopped receiving benefits
and wages from the
government, and outsiders
began to steal their land
and resources.

28. Answer the Following Questions Below
1.Why do you think the Natives were treated so harshly
by the US government?

2.How did the US persecute Natives even after giving
them citizenship?

3.What sacrifices did Natives make for the United
States? How were they treated afterwards?

29. Termination Policy
●In 1953, the US government
declared it would no longer
be responsible for Native
reservations.

●This policy was known as
the Termination Policy.
The termination (end) of
all support.

30. ●In response to this policy,
Native Americans began to
move into cities.

●This policy was an absolute
failure, where many of the
Natives could not find jobs
in the city, and often
became even poorer than
before.
Termination Policy

31. Termination Policy
●Many Natives were left
without any healthcare.

●This policy was maintained
until 1963, but the damage
was already done.