Providing materiel for the
Allies gave new life to the sagging American economy. There were
still some five million unemployed in the nation, and something
more seemed to be needed. Unfortunately for the Afro-American,
most of the new jobs were not open to them. Aside from the fact
that he was the first to be fired and the last to be hired, many
of the new defense industries made it clear that they would hire
no Negroes at all or, at most, would restrict their employment to
janitorial positions regardless of the training or education of
the applicant.
Hostility was expressed quite openly by some leaders in the West
Coast aircraft industry. As better jobs became available, they
were quickly filled by white workers eager to improve
their economic status. This left some of the more undesirable
jobs to go begging, and, as the result, the war boom benefits
began to trickle down to the Afro-American community.
Afro-Americans, however, were not content with the crumbs from
the industrial table. Complaints began to flood into Washington.
Several government officials made pronouncements condemning
discrimination in defense industries, but they were not heard.
Pages:
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342