Ernie Royer
Alyssa Arnell
History 106
13 March 2025
Alyssa Arnell
History 106
13 March 2025
1920s overview
Prompt 1: Defining the 1920s
The 1920s was a dynamic decade in the history of the United States, characterized by a shift of societal norms revolting against 19th-century Victorian morals. Economically, the decade is called a “Decade of Prosperity,” as the American “dollar replaces British pound as most important currency in international trade” (Arnel 11). The American Dollar was highly valued, even outside of the country. The expansion of credit through installment systems made space for the ‘Coca Cola Society’, symbolizing the emergence of national consumer culture, fueled by economic growth and new forms of consumption. Despite new economic prosperity, the United States experienced its first decline in farms and farmers due to “Mechanization and use of large numbers of migrant laborers” (Arnell 13). This indicates that the prosperity the nation experienced was not evenly spread among the agricultural economies and labor forces. Beyond social and economic evolution, the 1920s also experienced a cultural evolution—the intermingling of Black and White cultures during the age of Jazz” (Arnell 10). Cultures began to intermingle and Jazz served as a perfect space for African American communities to gain mainstream popularity. White audiences began listening to and appreciating Black music marks as the cultural blurring of socio-racial boundaries. This cultural mixing occurred against increasing racism and nativism, as the 1924 immigration act, which “provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States…(while completely excluding)...immigrants from Asia.” (Arnell 17). This immigration act embodied the desire to maintain the racial hierarchy across the country. The 1920s were an era of progress and regression, earmarked by cultural and economic shifts alongside social inequalities and discrimination.
Prompt 2:
The end of prohibition directly led to Billie Holiday being a target of the federal government. Harry Anslinger, who headed the DEA for over three decades, initiated the ‘war on drugs’. The prohibition's end directly threatened Anslinger’s job, power, and political agenda. He countered this by inventing “the modern war on drugs as the pretext for his department.” (NPR) Anslinger took a racist approach to this task, and pursued the courageous Bille Holliday for her courageous song “Strange Fruit”. “Strange Fruit’ is at its core a protest song graphic and unflinching in its imagery in it’s rejection of white supremacy and violence agains African Americans. (NPR)” Anslinger knew this song in particular was so powerful that its performance and acknowledgement across the nation was a threat to White Americans' ability to be overtly racist. Holliday even received a warning from Anslinger, which told her to stop singing the song. The end of prohibition created a power vacuum that fueled preexisting racism to manifest in government bodies, overtly pointed at Billie Holiday, who had preexisting drug issues that were used to harass and discredit her musical platform.
Prompt 3:
In Supreme Court’s 1927 ruling of Buck v Bell, a dark decision was made by the American Government to wave the rights and sexual respect of marginalized groups, by marking them as “feeble-minded”. This awful decision paved the way for the eugenics movement, and fell in line with the racist views of nativism. The case consisted of Carrie Buck, a woman who was raped and then labeled as ‘feeble-minded’ due to fits of epilepsy, while using her mother and daughter as evidence against her rights to reproduce. “Three generations of imbeciles are enough.” A doctor “and a Red Cross nurse examined Carrie’s baby Vivian and concluded that she was ‘below average’ and ‘not quite normal.’...Relying on these comments, the judge concluded that Carrie should be sterilized to prevent the birth of other ‘defective’ children.” (Arnell 25) leading to the Virgina Law being upheld and Carrie Buck was deemed unfit to procreate, and then sterilized. The legitimacy of forced sterilization led to “about 70,000 Americans…(being)...sterilized as a result of this decision.” (Fresh Air) These eugenic ideologies and practices are downright evil, cruel, and unfair. The Buck V Bell decision has yet to be overturned and remains the law of the land, giving it the potential to be misused in the present and future political landscapes.
Arnell, Alyssa. 1920’S Powerpoint. 2023. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
Fresh Air. “The Supreme Court Ruling That Led to 70,000 Forced Sterilizations.” NPR, Fresh Air, 7 Mar. 2016, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/07/469478098/the-supreme-court-ruling-that-led-to-7www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/07/469478098/the-supreme-court-ruling-that-led-to-70-000-forced-sterilizations0-000-forced-sterilizations. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
NPR. “Throughline: The United States vs. Billie Holiday on Apple Podcasts.” Apple Podcasts, NPR, 8 Oct. 2020, podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-united-states-vs-billie-holiday/id1451109634?i=1000493988024. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.