An incredibly important movement of the 1920s is the Harlem Rennaissance, and the celebration of black art and African Americans. Music and art led to a change of culture, and a rise in protest and civil rights movements (PBS). With this, though, came the important characteristic of this period, the cultural conflicts (Mintz & McNeil). Old and new ideas were at war, and divisions between class and race grew tension. A resistance to growth and civil rights created a battle for immigrants and women and in response to this resistance came profound change in gender expression and politics and entertainment.
Toward the end of the prohibition Anslinger started the war on drugs (Abdelfatah & Arablouei). He had a particular hatred of both people who struggled with addiction and people of color. Billie Holiday was raised in a situation where she experienced frequent sexual abuse and self-medicated with substances. Alcohol and drug use was something that she struggled with her entire life. The song, “Strange Fruit,” became popular, and at the time there were not many things in popular music like this. It was a rejection of white supremacy and an act of rebellion. Because of her struggle with addiction and her music, she was everything Anslinger hated. He threatened her with the knowledge of her drug use to try and get her to stop performing the song, and she refused to let him silence her. This lead to her arrests and eventual death.
The immigration act of 1924 attempted to control racial quotas and prevent Eastern Europeans from coming to the United States (Gross). There was an intent by eugenicists to decide who could procreate based off populations they wanted to control. In Buck vs. Bell, the Supreme Court voted in favor of eugenics and sterilization. Buck was deemed to be feeble minded and due to having a child deemed feeble minded as well she was used to fuel fears about hereditarily passing down these genes. This ended up supporting the right to decide whether someone had the right to marry and procreate based off whether or not they were deemed ‘fit’ and lead to tens of thousands of forced sterilizations.
Gross, Terry. The Supreme Court Ruling That Led to 70,000 Forced Sterilization. Fresh Air. 7 March 2016. NPR.
Abdelfatah, Rund & Arablouei, Ramtin. The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Throughline. 8 October 2020. NPR. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-united-states-vs-billie-holiday/id1451109634?i=1000493988024
PBS News Hour. PBS. 22 July 2019.
Mintz, S., & McNeil, S. (2018). Digital History.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu
Toward the end of the prohibition Anslinger started the war on drugs (Abdelfatah & Arablouei). He had a particular hatred of both people who struggled with addiction and people of color. Billie Holiday was raised in a situation where she experienced frequent sexual abuse and self-medicated with substances. Alcohol and drug use was something that she struggled with her entire life. The song, “Strange Fruit,” became popular, and at the time there were not many things in popular music like this. It was a rejection of white supremacy and an act of rebellion. Because of her struggle with addiction and her music, she was everything Anslinger hated. He threatened her with the knowledge of her drug use to try and get her to stop performing the song, and she refused to let him silence her. This lead to her arrests and eventual death.
The immigration act of 1924 attempted to control racial quotas and prevent Eastern Europeans from coming to the United States (Gross). There was an intent by eugenicists to decide who could procreate based off populations they wanted to control. In Buck vs. Bell, the Supreme Court voted in favor of eugenics and sterilization. Buck was deemed to be feeble minded and due to having a child deemed feeble minded as well she was used to fuel fears about hereditarily passing down these genes. This ended up supporting the right to decide whether someone had the right to marry and procreate based off whether or not they were deemed ‘fit’ and lead to tens of thousands of forced sterilizations.
Gross, Terry. The Supreme Court Ruling That Led to 70,000 Forced Sterilization. Fresh Air. 7 March 2016. NPR.
Abdelfatah, Rund & Arablouei, Ramtin. The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Throughline. 8 October 2020. NPR. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-united-states-vs-billie-holiday/id1451109634?i=1000493988024
PBS News Hour. PBS. 22 July 2019.
Mintz, S., & McNeil, S. (2018). Digital History.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu