The Great Depression. America's worst financial crisis ever. Unemployment rates above 25%. A 50% drop in national income. Billions of dollars lost in a single day. (Trotter, p. 8) The Depression affected everyone in America. Young and old, rich and poor, black and white, no one was spared. However, for America's 12 million African Americans (Encyclopedia of Race and Racism), the Depression did not just begin in 1929. (From Africa to America: From the Middle to the Middle Ages 1930s) African Americans were an enslaved minority. Racism was not only present in America, it was accepted by many. In the South, Democrats fought to keep African Americans under harsh segregation and oppressive laws. (Trotter, p. 9) Efforts to relieve African Americans from their dire situation were rebuffed and interrupted as often as possible. (Trotter, p. 9) Despite all this, African Americans fought against their oppression and attempted to organize to promote their interests. (Africa to America: From the Middle to the 1930s, p. 36) Over time, their situation improved and they managed to slowly recover from the damage caused by the Depression. In the book Of Mice and Men, the character Crooks is a black man living during the Great Depression. He faces prejudice and is not well liked by other men. His experience is just one of twelve million African Americans who lived and struggled during the Great Depression. The Great Depression had serious political ramifications for African Americans. The Depression occurred during the presidency of Herbert Hoover, a former mining executive and Secretary of Commerce. (Encyclopedia of the American Presidency) His Republican administration received strong support from the United States of Africa...... middle of paper ...... w York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 8 -17. Gale Power Research. Internet. May 19, 2014. “New Deal and old racism.” Encyclopedia of Race and Racism. Ed. John Hartwell Moore. Flight. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 364-368. Gale Power Research. Internet. May 19, 2014. Horne, Gerald. “National Negro Congress.” Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History. Ed. Colin A. Palmer. 2nd ed. Flight. 4. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 1614-1615. Gale Power Research. Internet. May 22, 2014. “Hoover, Herbert Clark (1874-1964). » Encyclopedia of the American Presidency. Michael A. Genovese. New York: Facts on the Record, 2010. 240-241. Facts about the American History File Library. Gale Power Research. Internet. May 22, 2014. Separation, Ben H. “Reconstruction.” Americans at War. Ed. John P. Resch. Flight. 2: 1816-1900. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 141-144. Gale Power Research. Internet. May 22 2014.