Age of Hypocrisy
This exhibit will explore America’s fight against fascism, communism and inequality during the start of WWII up until the end of the Vietnam war. The focus will be on the ongoing struggle for minorities post WWII. African Americans believed their Government would grant them equality if they fought in Europe during the war, however segregation continued well up into the 1960’s. While men were off fighting in the war, it was for the first time in American history that married women and mothers would work. However, returning solders re-replaced the women at their jobs, who conformed back into their social sphere as a stay at home mothers. In addition, returning solders needed homes to live in and start families, which resulted in the rise of suburbanization. The economy grew, luxuries became commodities and the number houses doubled outside of major cities. Nearly 99 percent of the home owners of these suburban communities were white. Blacks, living in urban districts, were redlined; not given the same opportunities as whites to home loans and services. Also during this time, relations with America and the U.S.S.R escalated in to a world of mutually assured destruction. While no blood was shed, America did however intervene in Asian countries like North Korea and North Vietnam to try to “contain” the spread of communism. It could be argued that America decided to become involved in these wars (WWII, Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, etc.) to try to protect people’s freedoms from oppression by fighting against the side of fascism or communism, acting as a sort of world protector. I argue the alternative: America cannot protect other countries globally from tyrannical (oppressive) rule while domestic minorities (women and blacks living in America) were systematically oppressed. In another word, I believe America should focus more on domestic problems rather than global ones.
This exhibit should develop, support and challenge this argument further.
A Very Compelling Picture
This page has paths:
- Age of Hypocrisy Harrison Whorf
- Age of Hypocrisy Harrison Whorf
