The Great Depression vs 2008 Recession

This image depicts a group of men (most of which a white men)lining up for something, perhaps lining up to collect a weekly parcel of food for their families, or potentially to apply for a job at a particular establishment. The sheer number of people in this line indicates how desperate people were for jobs during the Great Depression and how people would wait for hours just to hand in an application for a job they most likely wouldn’t get.

The fact that we can only see white men in this image I think is significant. This is because we very rarely hear about what the Great Depression was like for the black community. One assumes that their situation would be similar to that of a white man; however, it is likely that the situation of a black man would be worse. Employers were reluctant to employ black people at the best of times, however, when jobs and money were scarce, the employability of black people I assume would have declined further. If these men are in fact waiting to apply for a job, it looks to me as though the job is for some kind of office work, given their location. Perhaps the reason as to why we see no black men in this image is because it was rare for a black man to have an office role; they were more likely to be successful applying for manual labour roles. 

This image, like with the first shows a large group of people. However, this is where the similarities end. This image, in contrast to the first, shows a group of people, of varying races, stand together in a fairly disorderly fashion. It also looks as though the people in this image are not waiting patiently for food or to apply for a job, but are protesting in some way.

I think that a difference between the Great Depression and the 2008 recession is that during the GD people were willing to let the government deal with the mass problems while individuals worried about providing for their families and would be prepared to wait for hours for a potential job. Whereas in the 2008 recession, people were protesting that the government wasn’t doing enough to help those who needed it the most, as well as worrying about their own families,, they were prepared to make a stand and protest against the government to help bring the recession to an end.