History
479B
Devine
Fall
2012
Jay
R. Mandle, Not
Slave, Not Free, Chapters 6-8
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
1. How did the
beginning of World War II affect the plantation economy? What specific factors
doomed the old system of production?
2. Was labor
being “pushed” or “pulled” out of the South? Why? How does Mandle
know?
3. How did
African Americans’ employment opportunities change after the beginning of the
war? What remained as impediments to their achieving employment equality with
whites?
4. Why was black
labor “underused” and “misused” during the war? (p. 88)
5. Why was the
war time environment conducive to blacks’ protests against discrimination?
6. Why did the
war erode paternalism in the South? How did the planters restructure their work
system given the exodus of black laborers?
7. According to Mandle, the end of the plantation economy occurred in two
steps. What were they? Why did step one have to come
before step two?
Chapter 8
1. According to Mandle, “the civil rights movement was born precisely
because the South had begun to change.” (95)
How does he connect these two developments? Why was this the case?
2. In responding
to the new assertiveness of African Americans, white southern businessmen
responded in two ways. What were they?
3. The civil
rights movement tended to be more effective in the South than in the North. According to Mandle,
what accounts for this?
4. Mandle argues that
African Americans’ route to a higher standard of living was blocked by “demand”
and “supply” problems. (p. 98) What was the difference
between the two? What were some examples of each?
5. What were the
three variables that seem to explain African Americans’ poor performance in the
business sector? What three variables
help to explain African Americans’ occupational mobility – that is, their
ability to move into better (and higher paying) jobs?
6. African
Americans did well in the 1950s and 1960s, but by the 1970s this economic
progress seemed to ebb. Why did this happen?
Who or what was to blame? Why did
this development produce more inequality within the African American
population?
7. Given the
statistics Mandle introduces, why would “get an
education” and “get married before having kids” be good pieces of advice if one
wanted economic success?
8. How are
economic growth and increases in productivity linked to education?
9. Why does Mandle believe that the economic interests of African
Americans and whites have converged?