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And most of you benefitted from it.
On June 22, 1944 President Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, better known as the G.I. Bill. This law provided benefits for veterans returning from the second World War. Funds were paid for college tuition, low-cost home loans, and unemployment insurance. As in every other program during this time southern congressmen fought passage of these laws unless there were provisions that limited access to blacks. The G.I Bill was no different.
Democratic congressmen in the south fought against provisions of the GI Bill out of fear that returning black veterans might be able to use public support for their war effort to advocate against Jim Crow laws. Southern Democrats using the same tactics they used to make certain other policies in the New Deal helped as few Black people as possible, wanted benefits to be administered by the states. Mississippi Congressman John Rankin was the ringleader in that regard]. He and other Southern Democrats knew doing that would allow southern states to do what each state had been doing since the Civil Rights Cases. That would be states implementing policies full of loopholes and restrictions that would be enforced on blacks but not whites thereby ensuring the GI Bill would primarily benefit whites. Congress gave southern Democrats what they wanted.
progressive.org
www.history.com
Now before I have to hear you republicans sing that sad sorry lie about democrats, remember that republicans voted to give the southern democrats what they wanted. My father served in that war, he was from Louisiana and he did not get the benefits white soldiers got. This impacted my life and so when we speak about reparations, we're talking about policies like this and many others which came after slavery and do more so directly affect blacks living today.
On June 22, 1944 President Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, better known as the G.I. Bill. This law provided benefits for veterans returning from the second World War. Funds were paid for college tuition, low-cost home loans, and unemployment insurance. As in every other program during this time southern congressmen fought passage of these laws unless there were provisions that limited access to blacks. The G.I Bill was no different.
Democratic congressmen in the south fought against provisions of the GI Bill out of fear that returning black veterans might be able to use public support for their war effort to advocate against Jim Crow laws. Southern Democrats using the same tactics they used to make certain other policies in the New Deal helped as few Black people as possible, wanted benefits to be administered by the states. Mississippi Congressman John Rankin was the ringleader in that regard]. He and other Southern Democrats knew doing that would allow southern states to do what each state had been doing since the Civil Rights Cases. That would be states implementing policies full of loopholes and restrictions that would be enforced on blacks but not whites thereby ensuring the GI Bill would primarily benefit whites. Congress gave southern Democrats what they wanted.
How African American WWII Veterans Were Scorned By the G.I. Bill
This Veteran's Day, remembering some of our veterans who protected a country that did not protect them.
progressive.org
How the GI Bill's Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans | HISTORY
The sweeping bill following World War II promised prosperity to veterans. So why didn’t Black Americans benefit?
www.history.com
Now before I have to hear you republicans sing that sad sorry lie about democrats, remember that republicans voted to give the southern democrats what they wanted. My father served in that war, he was from Louisiana and he did not get the benefits white soldiers got. This impacted my life and so when we speak about reparations, we're talking about policies like this and many others which came after slavery and do more so directly affect blacks living today.
