Why Calls for "Unity" Are Not Enough: Look at the 1930s and 1940s
Tuesday, 02 August 2016 09:11 By Wendy Wall, The Conversation | Op-Ed
The US is in the midst of a tepid economic recovery following a catastrophic
downturn, but millions of Americans continue to feel left behind. Some turn
their anger on corporations and Wall Street. Others target nonwhite
immigrant workers. A charismatic media personality with a populist message
attacks religious minorities. Conservatives denounce the president and his
allies for flouting the Constitution and steering the United States toward
socialism. Meanwhile, many on the left warn that fascism is taking root in
America.
This may sound like 2016, but in fact it describes the US toward the end of
the Depression decade.
The parallels between the two eras aren't perfect, but in the late 1930s --
as today -- political rancor, social division and the threat posed by
"alien" ideologies sparked widespread unease. And just as politicians and
commentators in recent weeks have called for "unity" in the face of
political and racial strife, so too did their counterparts in the late
1930s.
These earlier Americans acted on their words.
During the late 1930s and 1940s, an array of American elites from business
executives and government officials to clergymen and Hollywood tycoons
launched a variety of efforts to build civic unity and national consensus.
These efforts continued into the early 1960s.
Indeed, such campaigns are one reason that many Americans today think of the
immediate postwar decades as a golden age of harmony and concord.
As a historian who has looked closely at these midcentury efforts to cement
national cohesion, I believe that while they offer a model, they also offer
a warning.
A Nation Divided
In November 1936, Americans went to the polls and awarded Franklin Delano
Roosevelt a second presidential term. It was one of the most lopsided
elections in US history, with Roosevelt winning almost 61 percent of the
vote.
Any sense of unity that the election provided, however, rapidly unraveled in
the face of a new economic downturn, a Supreme Court crisis and emerging
divisions in the Democratic Party.
The late 1930s were marked by sit-down strikes, violent repression of
workers, and attacks by vigilante groups on Jews, Catholics, racial
minorities and leftists.
Father Charles Coughlin, the charismatic "radio priest" whose economic
populism had attracted an audience of millions (one in 10 American families
with a radio tuned in regularly), turned in 1938 openly and stridently
anti-Semitic. Coughlin's followers and members of other newly formed
anti-Semitic groups held mass rallies, stockpiled weapons and beat up Jews.
Meanwhile, Communists, preaching a mix of class and racial equality, made
inroads in the labor movement, among artists and intellectuals, and in
minority communities. They could claim 82,000 members and many more
sympathizers by the close of 1938.
All this alarmed American elites across the political spectrum.
Those on the left saw in union-busting, red-baiting and surging intolerance
evidence of what The New York Times and others called "an American brand of
fascism." Those on the right believed trade unionists, leftists and, above
all, New Dealers were ushering in "state socialism."
Members of both groups urged Americans to unite around "shared" national
values, although they often disagreed on precisely what those values were.
Temporary unity came with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and US entry into
World War II. But in 1943 -- and again in 1946 -- the US was rocked by
massive strikes, race riots and other forms of social unrest.
One of the worst wartime race riots occurred in Detroit in June 1943. By the
time federal troops were called in to quell the riot, 25 blacks and nine
whites lay dead. Nearly a thousand people had been injured.
Unity Campaigns
US elites responded to this turmoil with numerous initiatives designed to
promote social harmony and consensus. They were aided by a new
infrastructure of institutions -- some public, others private -- that
emerged immediately before and during World War II.
For instance, during the war, the National Conference of Christians and Jews
preached interfaith tolerance in military installations and USO canteens
from Norfolk, Virginia to Nome, Alaska.
After the war, the NCCJ and several other groups worked with the newly
formed Advertising Council on a long-running public service campaign dubbed
"United America." Using radio spots, car cards and other forms of
advertising, they urged Americans to "keep America strong" by "isolating and
quarantining group antagonism," not only between religious, racial and
ethnic groups, but also between management and labor.
The Advertising Council played a key role in the most ambitious "unity"
campaign of the era, the Freedom Train.
Between September 1947 and January 1949, a red-white-and-blue locomotive
carried more than 120 original documents and artifacts -- ranging from
Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence to the
flag planted at Iwo Jima -- through hundreds of cities in all 48 states.
The train's journal was coordinated with hundreds of local celebrations
dubbed patriotic "revival meetings" and a nationwide media blitz. Conceived
in the attorney general's office, organized by movie and advertising
executives and financed by America's largest corporations, the Freedom Train
portrayed a nation that was unified, consensual and inclusive.
This veneer of unity, however, concealed a behind-the-scenes contest over
America's core values.
Which documents should be included in the exhibit? How should they be
interpreted? Should a train displaying the Emancipation Proclamation allow
segregated viewing in stops below the Mason-Dixon line? Even the word
"democracy" -- which had both political and economic overtones -- was
ultimately deemed too controversial to be used in slogans and press
materials.
As these examples suggest, "unity" campaigns often promoted civility rather
than real social change.
The "Race Problem"
After race riots exploded across the country in 1943, hundreds of cities,
states and community organizations set up committees designed to defuse
racial, religious and ethnic tensions.
The "Civic Unity Movement," as this campaign was called, focused attention
on the "race problem" in America and achieved some real gains. The Toledo
board, for instance, persuaded local hospitals to hire black nurses.
Too often, however, these groups shunned tactics that risked increasing
tensions by antagonizing racists. In Chicago, for instance, black efforts to
move into neighborhoods claimed by whites led to hundreds of racial
incidents -- vandalism, arson bombings and full-scale riots -- between 1944
and 1949.
Yet, as historian Arnold Hirsch has shown, these events were barely covered
by the city's metropolitan dailies. City unity commissions convinced
Chicago's white-owned newspapers that covering such episodes would only fan
the flames of racial unrest. This helped to sustain an image of racial
harmony and consensus that was often at odds with events on the ground.
Such unity-building efforts did help to discredit open prejudice against
both religious and racial minorities. For the most part, however, they
failed to address the structural inequalities of race and class that have
haunted this nation for decades.
By marginalizing dissenters and casting all who disrupted national unity as
somehow un-American they shored up existing power structures and left intact
the social and economic status quo.
By the mid-1960s, the resulting tensions could no longer be contained. A new
round of race riots in Los Angeles, Newark, Detroit and other cities called
attention to America's continuing economic and racial inequalities. This is
a lesson that our current national leaders would do well to remember.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not
be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
WENDY WALL
Wendy Wall is an Associate Professor of 20th century US history at
Binghamton University and the State University of New York. She is currently
working on two book projects: a history of the Immigration Act of 1965, and
a study of the promotion, uses and permutations of civil religion from
Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan.
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Why Calls for "Unity" Are Not Enough: Look at the 1930s and 1940s
Tuesday, 02 August 2016 09:11 By Wendy Wall, The Conversation | Op-Ed
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reference not valid.
The US is in the midst of a tepid economic recovery following a
catastrophic downturn, but millions of Americans continue to feel left
behind. Some turn their anger on corporations and Wall Street. Others target
nonwhite immigrant workers. A charismatic media personality with a populist
message attacks religious minorities. Conservatives denounce the president
and his allies for flouting the Constitution and steering the United States
toward socialism. Meanwhile, many on the left warn that fascism is taking
root in America.
This may sound like 2016, but in fact it describes the US toward the
end of the Depression decade.
The parallels between the two eras aren't perfect, but in the late 1930s --
as today -- political rancor, social division and the threat posed by
"alien" ideologies sparked widespread unease. And just as politicians and
commentators in recent weeks have called for "unity" in the face of
political and racial strife, so too did their counterparts in the late
1930s.
These earlier Americans acted on their words.
During the late 1930s and 1940s, an array of American elites from business
executives and government officials to clergymen and Hollywood tycoons
launched a variety of efforts to build civic unity and national consensus.
These efforts continued into the early 1960s.
Indeed, such campaigns are one reason that many Americans today think of the
immediate postwar decades as a golden age of harmony and concord.
As a historian who has looked closely at these midcentury efforts to cement
national cohesion, I believe that while they offer a model, they also offer
a warning.
A Nation Divided
In November 1936, Americans went to the polls and awarded Franklin Delano
Roosevelt a second presidential term. It was one of the most lopsided
elections in US history, with Roosevelt winning almost 61 percent of the
vote.
Any sense of unity that the election provided, however, rapidly unraveled in
the face of a new economic downturn, a Supreme Court crisis and emerging
divisions in the Democratic Party.
The late 1930s were marked by sit-down strikes, violent repression of
workers, and attacks by vigilante groups on Jews, Catholics, racial
minorities and leftists.
Father Charles Coughlin, the charismatic "radio priest" whose economic
populism had attracted an audience of millions (one in 10 American families
with a radio tuned in regularly), turned in 1938 openly and stridently
anti-Semitic. Coughlin's followers and members of other newly formed
anti-Semitic groups held mass rallies, stockpiled weapons and beat up Jews.
Meanwhile, Communists, preaching a mix of class and racial equality, made
inroads in the labor movement, among artists and intellectuals, and in
minority communities. They could claim 82,000 members and many more
sympathizers by the close of 1938.
All this alarmed American elites across the political spectrum.
Those on the left saw in union-busting, red-baiting and surging intolerance
evidence of what The New York Times and others called "an American brand of
fascism." Those on the right believed trade unionists, leftists and, above
all, New Dealers were ushering in "state socialism."
Members of both groups urged Americans to unite around "shared" national
values, although they often disagreed on precisely what those values were.
Temporary unity came with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and US entry into
World War II. But in 1943 -- and again in 1946 -- the US was rocked by
massive strikes, race riots and other forms of social unrest.
One of the worst wartime race riots occurred in Detroit in June 1943. By the
time federal troops were called in to quell the riot, 25 blacks and nine
whites lay dead. Nearly a thousand people had been injured.
Unity Campaigns
US elites responded to this turmoil with numerous initiatives designed to
promote social harmony and consensus. They were aided by a new
infrastructure of institutions -- some public, others private -- that
emerged immediately before and during World War II.
For instance, during the war, the National Conference of Christians and Jews
preached interfaith tolerance in military installations and USO canteens
from Norfolk, Virginia to Nome, Alaska.
After the war, the NCCJ and several other groups worked with the newly
formed Advertising Council on a long-running public service campaign dubbed
"United America." Using radio spots, car cards and other forms of
advertising, they urged Americans to "keep America strong" by "isolating and
quarantining group antagonism," not only between religious, racial and
ethnic groups, but also between management and labor.
The Advertising Council played a key role in the most ambitious "unity"
campaign of the era, the Freedom Train.
Between September 1947 and January 1949, a red-white-and-blue locomotive
carried more than 120 original documents and artifacts -- ranging from
Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence to the
flag planted at Iwo Jima -- through hundreds of cities in all 48 states.
The train's journal was coordinated with hundreds of local celebrations
dubbed patriotic "revival meetings" and a nationwide media blitz. Conceived
in the attorney general's office, organized by movie and advertising
executives and financed by America's largest corporations, the Freedom Train
portrayed a nation that was unified, consensual and inclusive.
This veneer of unity, however, concealed a behind-the-scenes contest over
America's core values.
Which documents should be included in the exhibit? How should they be
interpreted? Should a train displaying the Emancipation Proclamation allow
segregated viewing in stops below the Mason-Dixon line? Even the word
"democracy" -- which had both political and economic overtones -- was
ultimately deemed too controversial to be used in slogans and press
materials.
As these examples suggest, "unity" campaigns often promoted civility rather
than real social change.
The "Race Problem"
After race riots exploded across the country in 1943, hundreds of cities,
states and community organizations set up committees designed to defuse
racial, religious and ethnic tensions.
The "Civic Unity Movement," as this campaign was called, focused attention
on the "race problem" in America and achieved some real gains. The Toledo
board, for instance, persuaded local hospitals to hire black nurses.
Too often, however, these groups shunned tactics that risked increasing
tensions by antagonizing racists. In Chicago, for instance, black efforts to
move into neighborhoods claimed by whites led to hundreds of racial
incidents -- vandalism, arson bombings and full-scale riots -- between 1944
and 1949.
Yet, as historian Arnold Hirsch has shown, these events were barely covered
by the city's metropolitan dailies. City unity commissions convinced
Chicago's white-owned newspapers that covering such episodes would only fan
the flames of racial unrest. This helped to sustain an image of racial
harmony and consensus that was often at odds with events on the ground.
Such unity-building efforts did help to discredit open prejudice against
both religious and racial minorities. For the most part, however, they
failed to address the structural inequalities of race and class that have
haunted this nation for decades.
By marginalizing dissenters and casting all who disrupted national unity as
somehow un-American they shored up existing power structures and left intact
the social and economic status quo.
By the mid-1960s, the resulting tensions could no longer be contained. A new
round of race riots in Los Angeles, Newark, Detroit and other cities called
attention to America's continuing economic and racial inequalities. This is
a lesson that our current national leaders would do well to remember.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not
be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
Wendy Wall
Wendy Wall is an Associate Professor of 20th century US history at
Binghamton University and the State University of New York. She is currently
working on two book projects: a history of the Immigration Act of 1965, and
a study of the promotion, uses and permutations of civil religion from
Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan.
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