Fall Reading

For my fall reading book I attempted to read Hiroshima. Although the book was very interesting I found that we didn't have a deadline so it was hard to finish on our own, or enough time to read it in class. I think the idea of a full year history book is a good one, but I just ended up forgetting about it. What I did read (about 100 pages) was very interesting and showed the true consequences of World War Two. The book follows about seven people ranging in age and nationality that were directly affected by the atomic bombs in Japan. The book jumps from character to character giving a well rounded picture of exactly what happened before during and after the bomb. From an American perspective this book is very valuable as it shows the result of the bomb and brings to light ethical considerations of atomic bombs.

The Price of Segregation

Segregation is known in history as the time period in the US where "Separate but equal" was the law of the land. Schools, pools, restaurants and other establishments had a white version, and a black version. Often the black version was far underfunded, and in need of repair. Despite the stark differences between white and black establishments, blacks were gaining a share of the market. The black middle class was expanding, rapidly. The literacy rate was rising and so were white collar jobs. Much of this can be attributed to the migration to the cities, especially the northern cities during this time. Despite blacks progress in the economic realm, their were still at the bottom of the social latter. This inconstancy was very expensive for the American economy. Often blacks would boycott establishments that did not hire blacks. In a city like Birmingham were blacks were a significant portion of the population there were major economic implications. Blacks had the ability to force change through economic tactics. During this time blacks had massive buying power in the housing market, many of them had expanding families and the need for typical suburban housing was large. However due to an increased prevalence of racism in the suburbs, blacks had to settle with old city housing, usually vacated by the white families now living in the suburbs. This reusing of housing is good for the environment, but not for the economy. The black population did not significantly attribute to the housing boom of the 1950's and 60's. The total effect of segregation on the economy is hard to calculate, but what is known is that many businesses, markets and cities were greatly economically damaged by segregation.