The depression caused millions of Americans, 17 percent of whites and 38 percent of African Americans, to be unable to support themselves. In cities, there were between three and four times more African Americans than whites receiving some form of relief. In 1935, one fourth of the one and a half million black workers were on relief. In Atlanta, 65 percent of black workers needed public assistance and in Norfolk, Virginia, more than 80 percent were on relief. This relief, however, was not given without a basis of race or color. Even supposedly religious and charitable organizations forbad African Americans from soup kitchens. Some work relief programs too limited their benefits only to white workers. In terms of public assistance, there was sometimes as high as a six dollar per month difference in the relief given to African Americans versus the relief given to whites.
When Roosevelt won the white house his "New Deal" took many measures to jump start the economy which effected blacks both positively and adversely. The National Industrial Recovery act had very few African Americans represented at its meetings and its codes frequently gave African Americans lower minimum wages than whites received. African Americans did not complain out of fear of loosing their job in such a corrupt system. When wages were raised, employers would often ignore their African American employees. Needless to say the National Industrial Recovery Act was deemed unconstitutional several years later.
In terms of agriculture, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration tried to help crop reduction by giving farmers cash benefits for under producing their crops and cattle. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration increased farmers benefits by billions, yet most of the money intended for black farm owners disappeared and did not find its destination. Sharecropping was also common practice at the time, and since many African Americans could not afford to buy their own land, they would work someone else's land in the sharecropping system. Many times, the land owners would keep government checks addressed to their illiterate land tenants. This did not only effect blacks, but white Americans as well. These black and white farmers created the Southern Tenant Farmers Union which was opposed by planters on the basis of racial prejudices.
African Americans also received benefits, albeit infrequently, from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Rural Electrification Administration, and the Federal Land Bank. The Farmer Security Administration, or FSA, benefited blacks incredibly, however. The FSA rented land out to create a community of small farmers and it also provided loans to those who wanted to buy their own farms. The FSA educated farmers on new methods of production and blacks received a large share of its benefits, giving them the ability to purchase land. The one shortcoming of this program was that its government appropriation was about one-fifth that of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. Ultimately the FSA was hurt by its open door racial policies because it was under so much fire that much of the programs funding was cut.
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