The period of the Great Depression to the Cold War (1930-1950) was defined by a strong cultural current of protecting American ideals. This was partially rooted in American Exceptionalism and a changing role of the U.S. standing in the world.[1] The great depression was a trying time for Americans with one out of every four workers unemployed by 1932.[2] Already struggling economically, most Americans didn’t want to join World War II, but with the bombing of pearl harbor, the invention and proliferation of radio and television, and intense pro-war propaganda centered around protecting American ideals and vilifying the enemy, public opinion began to sway as the US joined the war.[3] With the end of World War II and the shift into the cold war, there was a continuation and intensification of this tunnel vision view of fighting for American ideals. Whereas before the enemy was concrete, it was now Communism and Marxism: an abstract ideological threat. The result was not only anti-communist paranoia driven strongly through propaganda, but a resulting shrinking scope of what was considered “American” and culturally permitted. While the 1930’s to the 1950’s was a period defined by the protection of American ideals and an outward facing crusade for those ideals, this outward focus and narrow conception of what was American, eroded those very ideals that America was trying to protect. Through this trend we see how during this period the U.S. was full of ideological hypocrisy. The fallout of this can be seen through such horrors as Japanese internment, minority experiences in the Second World War, civil rights during this era, Women’s rights, and cultural gatekeeping in the cold war era.

As the Second World War intensified, President Truman had to balance the prevailing support for isolationism with the need for American intervention. To this end, when France was invaded and American intervention was crucial, he used all the available forms of media to bolster propaganda and justify American involvement. He spun the narrative to make it a just war.[4] To do so he created several propaganda machines including the Office of War Information which dished out overt propaganda, the O.F.F. founded in October 1941, and the O.S.S. which dealt with covert propaganda.[5] He also turned to Hollywood leading to pro-war films such as Frank Capra’s “A Prelude to War,” and “Why We Fight.” A central narrative pushed in these forms of propaganda was that America was protecting democratic values, and human rights. The Four Freedoms which Truman outlined as the US war aims—values that the U.S. was going to battle for included freedom of speech, Freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.[6] The holocaust and autocratic atrocities of Hitler’s regime helped solidify this narrative of America as the “good guy” beyond simple propaganda, yet America was already violating these ideals back at home as most minorities were barred from the rights afforded to many white Americans. This was termed “An American dilemma” by Sociologist Gunnar Myrdal describing the limited scope of the American creed.

One showcase of this hypocrisy is the Japanese internment camps, which spanned from 1942-1946. All Japanese Americans regardless of citizenship were carted off to internment camp and subjected to harsh labor, horrid conditions, and limited food. Many American citizens died in these camps and brought into question which American citizens are afforded the rights of American citizens. Mine Okubo illustrated this hypocrisy subtly in her Book Citizen 13660 detailing the horrors of the camps. In one illustration, Okubo depicts her in shock reading the news surrounded by slurs and anti-Japanese narratives. As a reader you can feel the weight of these words.[7] For Japanese Americans, this period was not a time when they were afforded freedom from fear.

Another group that was still fighting for their freedoms in this period were African Americans. While they were allowed to serve in the military, they were still limited in employment and there was rampant racism, discrimination, and segregation. In 1937 the NAACP called for the end of discrimination in the military, leading to the Double V Campaign.[8] This was a rallying cry for African American rights, and it still wasn’t until 1948 that segregation was banned in the military. While there was discrimination, the ideals of the Liberal consensus which gave America the duty to protect free enterprise, social problems, and create more equity started bleeding into the U.S. culture at home.[9] Minority groups began to question their own status as Americans, as the U.S. was fighting for these ideal in other countries; Ideals they had yet to fully realize at home.

World War II was a period where women were called upon to work in roles that were traditionally only for men, yet while this can be seen as progress, there were still underlying sexist overtones such as equating working in factories to doing housework. This was mainly to keep the idea of the woman contained to acceptable norms.[10] Notably after the cold war women roles returned to the household. As World War II ended and the baby boom commenced, women were further trapped in their role in the household and Soviet propaganda espoused warnings of women using their alure to send messages to the communists.[11] Despite the rise of feminism and the new women, the woman remained trapped under clear cultural lines defined by patriarchy—lines that are still present today. Meanwhile there was a strong ideological push for independence which permeated throughout all the United State partly in response to the Cold War.

Cultural Gatekeeping of the Cold war included the rise of suburbia, and the nuclear family,[12] which promoted extreme American individuality. This even showed in the architecture of the time, with more fenced off neighborhoods, and homes designed for self-reliance. The ideal family was the heteronormative standard of a man and a woman with one or two well-adjusted children. While suburbia grew from 7% to 30% of the population from 1910-1960 showing that this was symbolic of the American dream, it wasn’t inclusive.[13] This narrow cultural narrative of the American dream was only accessible to the wealthy and was predominantly white, while many minorities and lower socioeconomic class were subjected to dense urban housing and worse living conditions.[14] Almost worse is the stigmatization of these groups who were blamed for their circumstances with the logic of class mobility—a logic proved false under current understanding.

While the period from 1930-1950 was a time of great change, we can see how it was defined by cultural propaganda and the narrative of American exceptionalism that proves to not only be false but also hypocritical. Understanding the narratives of this period colors in an important pillar of history, and from this we can better understand America’s evolving place in the world. One current trend that can be traced back to this era is our reliance of automotive transportation as opposed to railways, and our current suburbia which both have their ideological roots in individualism and self-reliance. This was a response to anti-communist narratives and resulting fear of collectivism. Another example is the current rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans which can be traced on some level to the tensions of World War II and anti-Japanese narratives. Understanding the forces of propaganda and the perspective of minority groups during this period, and how propaganda eclipsed their struggles, can help inform our modern decisions in life, and struggles with misinformation. The digital age has multiplied and magnified the number of actors and power of narratives. From politics to individuals and organizations, we should be weary of strong cultural currents and understand the power they hold in shaping the current and future history of the world.

    Sources

Frank, Miriam. (1982). The life and times of Rosie the Riveter: the story of three million working women during World War II. Emeryville, Calif: Clarity Educational Productions,

Okubo, Miné. (1978). Citizen 13660. New York: Arno Press.

May, E. T. (1999). Homeward bound: American families in the Cold War era. New York: Basic Books.

Mickenberg, Julia. (2022). Art and Culture in the 1930’s.

Mickenberg, Julia. (2022). The Good War?

Mickenberg, Julia. (2022). The Cold War, Youth Culture, and the Haunting of Childhood.

Americans react to the Great Depression:  great depression and World War II, 1929-1945: U.S history primary source timeline: classroom materials at the Library of Congress: library of Congress. The Library of Congress.

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[1] Mickenburg, 2022

[2] Library of Congress, Americans react to the Great Depression

[3] Mickenburg, 2022

[4] Mickenburg, 2022

[5] Okubo, 1946

[6] Mickenburg, 2022

[7] Okubo, 1946, pg. 10

[8] Mickenburg, 2022

[9] Hodgson, 1976

[10] Miriam, 1982

[11] Mickenburg, 2022

[12] May, 2017

[13] May, 2017 pg. 24

[14] May, 2017