The image of blacks in the American media

The nature of the African-American population before, during, and after World War II is described by Schaller, Scharff, and Schulzinger, who note first that before the war over three-quarters of all African-Americans lived in the South and worked mainly as tenant farmers or domestic help. They held the lowest level of industrial jobs, and they were hurt more than any other group by the Great Depression. New Deal programs never challenged segregation, and politicians did not respond to a population that generally did not vote in an era when southern Democrats--often called Dixiecrats--chaired committees and worked to maintain the status quo. The record would improve as the New Deal progressed, and African-Americans employed at all levels of the federal government would triple between 1933 and 1945. Judicial appointments also contributed to the rate of change. However, the war brought with it increasing dissatisfaction with the pace of change. The U.S. was fighting an

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after the war increased and became more overt with the Civil Rights movement pushing for and achieving changes during the 1950s. An examination of the images projected in the media during the Civil Rights era of the late 1950s shows a shift from the description offered by Schaller, Scharff, and Schulzinger above. Political success for African-Americans helped alter the source, and interestingly an article from 1958 analyzes the voting record of black congressman from Harlem Adam Clayton Powell and notes that he "talks more and does less about civil rights than anyone on Capital Hill" ("The Mesmerist" 15). Powell had just won reelection, and the writer of the article clearly feels that this is evidence that the people of Harlem are listening more to what Powell says than they are examining what he has actually done. Indeed, the writer believes that the people may be short-changing themselves by not electing someone who will try to do more for them than Powell has done. This extends beyond the question of whether Powell does enough for civil rights, for the writer sees Powell as one of the least effective and able of all congressmen. The writer says that Powell's absentee rate is high, that he is obstructionist, and that he is
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Approximate Word count = 1664
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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