Race and Milwaukee during the Depression

African-Americans suffered the worst during the Great Depression in Milwaukee. Approximately, 3.9% of all unemployment in Milwaukee was African American despite them making up only 1.5% of the population of the city in 1934. They were also over-represented in governmental job programs with only 49% of them having a job in the private sector compared to 81% for whites. In 1940, African-American’s percentage seeking employment also was more than double whites at 29.3% compared to 12.7%. To add insult to injury, they were often excluded from the city industrial job market with outdated and racist attitudes on the part of factory owners, and even when they could get a job, they often got the lowest paying and often toughest work. One industrialist said, “we don’t have a foundry in our plant and that’s the kind of work negroes are most suited for.”

Source: Black Milwaukee, Joe William Trotter Jr.