ABSTRACT
Jim Crow was entrenched during a period filled with racist messages, such as the 1915 film Birth of a Nation which depicted African Americans as unsuited for political office and black men as sexually aggressive. Organizations like the Klan were but one control mechanism of Jim Crow. Such a system can be maintained only with the constant threat of severe penalties for insubordination or resistance. The Democrats’ majority in Congress depended on representatives from the Jim Crow South, and the New Deal’s promise far exceeded its actual benefits for people of color. The Civilian Conservation Corps, which provided jobs under federal construction projects, maintained racially segregated camps for workers. African Americans benefitted under some New Deal programs, such as the Works Progress Administration, which provided work relief, built many Southern schools and hospitals, and allocated funds without racial bias. Native Americans benefitted more consistently than other impoverished groups from New Deal reforms during the Great Depression.
