Reflection Essay: The 1920’s

Reflection Essay: The 1920’s

The 1920’s was a decade during which much change occurred. Immigration of foreign citizens was becoming overwhelming, and a great majority of America’s population was now foreign born. Ethnic groups such as African Americans, Catholics, and other European immigrants were the targets of segregation, lynching, and other prejudices. Foreign citizens and African Americans found the brunt of racist and prejudice practices during the twenties.

Immigration and migration were prevalent in the twenties. Job availability in the north during WWI encouraged southern blacks to move to the north. Black population was becoming prevalent in areas where they had never been before, like Harlem. Immigration from European nations was also huge, to the point where the U.S had to put pass strict laws severely inhibiting the amount of immigration into the country. The Large presence of immigrants into the U.S drove up rent and housing prices for everyone. Housing prices was not the only problem that immigration and migration caused; there was a sudden appearance of races and ethnicities where they had never been before. Most Americans were unhappy with the unknown presences in their communities and took to lynching and other prejudice practices.

African American citizens suffered immensely at the hand of racists. Police officers in Mississippi volunteered to turn a suspected black rapist over to citizens; the newspaper openly said that he was expected to be burned to death. In another instance a mayor tried to stop a crowd from lynching a black prisoner, and was hanged. Prejudices against blacks caused riots, when a Chicago policeman refused to arrest a white man for the murder of a black child people rioted and burned whole sections of the city, 38 people were killed as a result. The injustices suffered by the African American community during this time were innumerable.

During the time period after WWI there was a wave