The Great Depression is remembered as a time of universal misery and hardship. Millions of people live in extreme poverty and the entire nation is in economic, political and social ruin. However, as always in US history, minority groups have been hit the hardest, exposing America's indelible racist roots. The culture of poverty during the Great Depression revealed America's true colors in many ways. Minority groups, already living in poverty, were subject to racial aggression triggered in part by anxieties triggered by economic catastrophe. Such hostilities and the resulting redistribution of jobs created a culture of race-based poverty. Additionally, the racist political rhetoric of this period increased the hardships faced by people of color. Poverty during the Great Depression was experienced disproportionately by disadvantaged demographic groups, revealing America's entrenched racial inequality and hostility. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Anxiety induced by the Great Depression amplified racial discrimination against minority groups, already mired in abject poverty . The economic collapse was devastating for all workers, but minority groups such as African Americans suffered more than their white counterparts. They were forced out of jobs previously despised by whites. An increase in lynchings occurred. They were the first to be fired and the last to be hired (Phillips-Fein). Although adversity was not new to African Americans, the Great Depression only intensified racial enslavement. A few generations earlier, slavery had been abolished, and throughout the early 20th century, Jim Crow laws were pervasive. But the economic collapse gave rise to a new racism against African Americans in the 1930s, and the idea that people of color were inferior became increasingly popular. As Trotter stated, by 1932 the black unemployment rate was as high as 75 percent in some areas. This rate was significantly higher than the unemployment rate for whites, which was thirty percent. Additionally, wages for black workers were thirty percent lower than those for whites, even for those living below the subsistence level before the Depression (Trotter). An already tight job market for black people weakened in the wake of the crash, demonstrating the deep-seated systemic racism in America. Black people, who were already disadvantaged, were further constrained by lower wages and jobs, leading to higher levels of poverty within the African American community. So there is a direct correlation between racism, discrimination and poverty during the Great Depression. A redistribution of jobs ensued, fueling the flames of racial aggression against minority groups. Before the Depression, African Americans and Mexicans filled the need for unskilled labor. Their low incomes and poor working conditions had already put them at a disadvantage, but with the onset of economic decline, competition was fierce for every job. As a result, black and Latino groups were pushed out of the workforce, leaving the majority of them unemployed while white people took whatever they could get. For example, in many southern cities, white workersrallied with racist slogans such as "No Negro jobs until every white man has a job" and "Negroes, back to the cotton fields - city jobs are for whites." Trotter). Such racial abuses contributed to a redistribution of jobs that favored white workers, pushing the black community further down the economic ladder. Additionally, the southern railroads experienced the worst excess of racial violence. Organized white fraternities attacked, intimidated, and murdered black firefighters so they could assume their positions (Trotter). Although the Thirteenth Amendment was adopted almost sixty years before the Great Depression, Trotter notes that "the practices of the shotgun, the whip, the noose, and the Ku Klux Klan were resuming..." (Trotter). Such heinous practices came dangerously close to the brutality of slavery and increased the hardships experienced by black people at that time. For example, African American women were forced into “slave markets” where even poor white women employed them for as little as $5 a week for full-time work (Trotter). This grim reality has not only contributed to racial tensions, but also increased poverty among black people. The redistribution of jobs exposed the deep racism that had always existed in America, but which was exacerbated by the economic panic of the Great Depression. The poverty crisis accentuated the underlying racism in America, even extending to political discourses of the time. Racially charged political rhetoric was a more subtle result of the culture of poverty of the 1930s. During the Great Depression, high school graduates entered a world without jobs and most were unable to pursue higher education, as unemployment was a persistent problem. Edward R. Ellis explains the solutions to the problem sought by political figures. He describes how the governor of Mississippi pledged to deport “12 million blacks and 10 million aliens: more than the actual number of aliens in the country at the time” (Ellis 171). The governor depicted the multitude of horribly racist views among political figures, which contributed to a “growing loss of liberty in America…” (Ellis 183). High levels of unemployment have further fueled racist views which have led to a worsening culture of poverty within the black community. Additionally, during the administration of Herbert Hoover, federal agents and state police conducted large roundups of Mexican Americans. The horrific realities of this situation were that “anyone who looked Mexican, including U.S. citizens of Mexican origin, was arrested and detained during street raids” (“Minority Groups”). These mass arrests were carried out without a warrant or any specific reason other than that someone “looked” Mexican. Going door to door, agents demanded papers from Mexican citizens and immigrants. If the accused did not hand over the documents immediately, they would be considered illegal and deported. As expected, these raids created a climate of fear among Mexican Americans, and many immigrants decided to leave the United States in an attempt to avoid further harassment. Photos of Mexican-American families huddled together in their homes demonstrate the fear created by such hostility. Not knowing whether or not they would be deported, they took refuge together in an attempt to protect themselves from the federal government. In addition to these overt attacks, minority groups have also suffered in more subtle and covert ways. By”