What role did New Deal reforms play in the lives of women, blacks, and Indians? Did the New Deal increase discrimination or did it serve as a foundation for later civil rights reform?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: The ideal answer should include:
1. The effect on women varied. Some programs excluded women and others paid them less.
2. Women were also helped. A minimum wage helped women more than men when they qualified (they were sometimes excluded based on occupation). Women did start to participate more in the political process: Frances Perkins was the first female cabinet secretary.
3. African Americans were paid less by some programs,
4. However, on a national level, officials defended them for the first time and more African Americans participated at higher levels of government than ever before.
5. Indians were helped out by John Collier (commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs), who ended the Dawes Act. The CCC also greatly helped Native Americans. Ultimately, more than 80,000 Native Americans received training in agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry, along with basic academic subjects.
6. Although it could have accomplished more, the New Deal paved the way for the civil rights struggle that would come later.