The Great Depression, an economic collapse of worldly proportions. Citizens all around the world were struggling to just make by. America also fell, even though it 's great economic boom during WW1. The Depression left millions of Americans without jobs. Many middle-class individuals found themselves in poverty. Even the wealthy fell victim to this economic collapse. It was a terrible time for everyone. During this time, there were some who were doing better than others, job and economic wise. One of these people was Award-winning author and radio talk show personality Studs Terkel. (Conversations). He wrote many pieces and conducted many interviews, one of these interviews was later written down and titled Two Views of the Great Depression.
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He asked them how the depression affect their lives. Everyone would think that everybody during this time would say that it 's just terrible and that there whole life was over. That wasn 't the case for Clifford Burke, a black Chicago worker. He claims that there has always been a depression. He explains how life for him never really changed. That wasn 't the case for Jane Yonder. She explained how her family was affected by the depression. Both individuals fell to the Depression, but both have two completely different experiences and viewpoints of the …show more content…
For starters, he claims that there has always been a depression “it only became official when it hit the white man.” he proclaims. (Hard times pg.197) Many African Americans could not find good work. There were strong segregation and racism in America. This meant that many didn 't have good well-paying jobs. So when the depression hit, nothing really changed. Many of them didn 't lose their jobs. Burke was able to work as a teamster for forty cents an hour. (Hard times pg.197). He compares how his wife would react to how white wives would act during this time. Burke says that if he went to the store and bought basic foods like beans, flour, fatty meat, etc. that his wife would cook it and everyone would eat. No questions asked. However when a white man would show his wife the same items, she would tell him to leave and get out.(hard times 197) This is due to the fact that white men had better-paying jobs so they would buy more expensive foods. Now that they don 't have money their wives thought that they could no longer provide for them so she would throw him out. He also explains that he never applied for government help. He believed that it wasn 't right for him to mooch off of the government. He already had a job that paid enough, so he would let some else benefit from the program. In short for Burke nothing changes in his life, except for the
He asked them how the depression affect their lives. Everyone would think that everybody during this time would say that it 's just terrible and that there whole life was over. That wasn 't the case for Clifford Burke, a black Chicago worker. He claims that there has always been a depression. He explains how life for him never really changed. That wasn 't the case for Jane Yonder. She explained how her family was affected by the depression. Both individuals fell to the Depression, but both have two completely different experiences and viewpoints of the …show more content…
For starters, he claims that there has always been a depression “it only became official when it hit the white man.” he proclaims. (Hard times pg.197) Many African Americans could not find good work. There were strong segregation and racism in America. This meant that many didn 't have good well-paying jobs. So when the depression hit, nothing really changed. Many of them didn 't lose their jobs. Burke was able to work as a teamster for forty cents an hour. (Hard times pg.197). He compares how his wife would react to how white wives would act during this time. Burke says that if he went to the store and bought basic foods like beans, flour, fatty meat, etc. that his wife would cook it and everyone would eat. No questions asked. However when a white man would show his wife the same items, she would tell him to leave and get out.(hard times 197) This is due to the fact that white men had better-paying jobs so they would buy more expensive foods. Now that they don 't have money their wives thought that they could no longer provide for them so she would throw him out. He also explains that he never applied for government help. He believed that it wasn 't right for him to mooch off of the government. He already had a job that paid enough, so he would let some else benefit from the program. In short for Burke nothing changes in his life, except for the