In October 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had his administration send letters to thousands of clergy across the country, asking if the New Deal was helping their communities.
Ellis, a Black pastor in Hot Springs, Ark., wrote, “especially as it relates to the Negro group.” J.W.
The New Deal, more than one newspaper proclaimed, was also a “Raw Deal.”Eight decades later, that charge still hangs in the air.
Conservatives have long assailed the New Deal, which radically expanded the government’s involvement in the economy, as the epitome of big-government overreach.
But in recent years, progressives have increasingly argued that this pillar of 20th-century liberalism rested on a Jim Crow foundation, and laid the groundwork for the yawning Black wealth gap that persists today.
Persons:
Franklin D, Roosevelt, J.H, Ellis, J.W, Hairston, Jim Crow
Organizations:
Conservatives
Locations:
Hot Springs, Asheville, N.C