Download could possibly have so many people living below the poverty line

THE AMERICAN DREAM
&
THE “OTHER” AMERICA
Economic Boom & Widespread Poverty in the
1950s
THE OTHER AMERICA
◦ By 1962, nearly one out of
every four Americans was
living below the poverty level
($2,973 annually for a family
of four in 1958; approximately
$22,000 annually today)
◦ Many suburban Americans
failed to internalize or even
notice these problems,
refusing to believe that the
“richest nation on earth”
could possibly have so many
people living below the
poverty line
◦ Most of these poor were the
elderly, single women and
their children, and/or
minorities
“WHITE FLIGHT”
◦ In the 1950s, millions of
middle-class white
Americans left the cities
for the suburbs
◦ At the same time
millions of rural poor
migrated to the cities
(fleeing dying towns
unconnected to the new
nationwide highways)
◦ The so-called “White
Flight” drained cities of
valuable resources,
money and taxes
Urban Renewal
◦ People in the inner cities had to live in
dirty, crowded slums (elderly, single
mothers/children, minorities)
◦ Many suburban community boards had
covert policies making it extremely difficult
for non-white families to buy homes in
those areas
◦ One proposed solution was “urban
renewal”. The National Housing Act of
1949 called for the tearing down of
rundown neighborhoods and the
construction low-income housing
◦ Although the tearing down did occur,
parking lots, shopping centers, highways,
parks and factories were constructed on
much of the cleared land
◦ Urban renewal simply became “urban
removal” as many people simply had to
move from one ghetto to another.
Dodger Stadium- An example of urban renewal
Poverty Leads to Discrimination…
◦ When the United States entered WWII,
a shortage of agricultural workers
spurred the government to initiate a
program in which Mexican braceros,
or hired hands, were allowed into the
U.S. to harvest crops from 1942-1947
◦ They were expected to return to
Mexico once their employment
ended; but many remained in the U.S.
illegally to escape the poor economic
conditions in Mexico.
◦ As a result, prejudice against Mexicans
and Mexican-Americans rose
dramatically
The Longoria Incident
◦ Felix Longoria was a Mexican-American WWII
hero who had been killed in the Philippines
◦ The only undertaker in his Texas hometown
refused to provide his family with funeral
services
◦ Outraged Mexican Americans stepped up
their efforts to stamp out discrimination by
creating the G.I. Forum
◦ Designed to register Mexican American voters
and to promote candidates who would
represent their interests (still exists today and
promotes Latino-American civil rights,
education and veterans rights)
◦ By the 1960s, more Latino civil rights leaders
and movements would appear
Native Americans Continue Their Struggle…
◦ 1887 to 1934, government policy towards Native Americans:
“Americanization” and assimilation.
◦ 65,000 Native Americans left reservations for military service
and war work during WWII
◦ In 1953 the federal government announced it would give
up its responsibility for Native American tribes.
◦ The new approach, known as the “termination policy”
eliminated federal economic support, discontinued the
reservation system, and redistributed tribal lands to
individual Native Americans.
◦ Native Americans were encouraged to resettle in cities.
◦ The policy was a dismal failure. Most couldn’t find jobs
because of poor training and racial prejudice. In 1963, the
termination policy was abandoned
◦ The National Congress of American Indians was formed in
1944 to:
1)
Ensure civil rights for Native Americans
2)
Enable Native Americans on reservations to retain their
own customs
WOMEN’S ROLES IN THE
1950S
◦ During the 1950s, the
role of homemaker
and mother was
glorified in popular
magazines, movies
and television
◦ This ideal was one
which failed to satisfy
a great many middle
class women, and
was wildly unrealistic
for many others, who
had no choice but to
work
WOMEN AT WORK
◦ Being employed did not necessarily bring happiness or
intellectual fulfillment however
◦ Those women who did work were finding job opportunities
limited to fields such as nursing, teaching and office support
◦ Women earned far less than men for comparable jobs
THE BABY BOOM
◦ During the late 1940s
and through the early
1960s the birthrate in
the U.S. soared
◦ At its height in 1957, a
baby was born in
America every 7
seconds (over 4.3
million babies in ’57
alone)
◦ Baby boomers
represent the largest
generation in the
nation’s history
What are the
official years of
the Baby Boom
Generation?
1946 - 1964 saw a marked
increase in the number of births
in North America.
How did the birthrate rise
and fall during the baby
boom years in the US?
1940
2,559,000 births per year
1946
3,311,000 births per year
1955
4,097,000 births per year
1957
4,300,000 births per year
1964
4,027,000 births per year
1974
3,160,000 births per year
WHY SO MANY BABIES?
Why did the baby boom
occur when it did?
◦ Husbands returning from
war
◦ Decreasing marriage age
◦ Desirability of large families
◦ Confidence in economy
◦ Advances in medicine
ADVANCES IN MEDICINE
AND CHILDCARE
◦ Advances in the
treatment of
childhood diseases
included drugs to
combat typhoid fever
and polio (Jonas
Salk)
Dr. Salk was instrumental in
the eradication of polio
DR. SPOCK ADVISES
PARENTS
◦ Pediatrician Dr. Benjamin
Spock
◦ Children should be
allowed to express
themselves
◦ Parents should never
physically punish their kids
Dr. Spock’s book sold 10
million copies in the 1950s
IMPACT OF BABY BOOM
◦ As a result of the baby
boom 10 million
students entered
elementary schools in
the 1950s
◦ California built a new
school every 7 days in
the late ’50s
◦ Toy sales reached an
all-time high in 1958
when $1.25 billion in
toys were sold
RISE OF CONSUMERISM
◦ By the mid-1950s,
nearly 60% of
Americans were
members of the middle
class
◦ Consumerism (buying
material goods) came
to be equated with
success and status
NEW PRODUCTS
◦ One new product after
another appeared in the
marketplace
◦ Appliances, electronics,
and other household
goods were especially
popular
◦ The first credit card
(Diner’s Club) appeared
in 1950 and American
Express was introduced in
1958
◦ Personal debt increased
nearly 3x in the 1950s
THE ADVERTISING AGE
◦ The advertising industry capitalized on runaway consumerism by encouraging
more spending
◦ Ad agencies increased their spending from 6 billion to 9 billion between 1950
and 1955
◦ Target Markets: Suburban women
◦ “ On May 18, 1956, The New York Times printed a remarkable interview
with a young man named Gerald Stahl, executive vice-president of the
Package Designers Council. He stated: ‘Psychiatrists say that people
have so much to choose from that they want help—they will like the
package that hypnotizes them into picking it.’ He urged food packers
to put more hypnosis into their package designing, so that the
housewife will stick out her hand for it rather than one of many rivals. Mr.
Stahl has found that it takes the average woman exactly twenty
seconds to cover an aisle in a supermarket if she doesn’t tarry; so a
good package design should hypnotize the woman like a flashlight
waved in front of her eyes.”
—The Hidden Persuaders
◦ “Teenagers”: a new word, a new target for marketing
◦ Teens now attending school in record numbers; many worked, but
many did not have to. Rising family incomes made weekly allowances
more common and companies fell over each other to market to this
new group
Advertising is everywhere today in
America
Television Perpetuates “Traditional
Values” Through Both Programming
and Advertising
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF
5WgeQQYbE