Historical Context

The socio-economic status of the 1920’s African American was poor. “While many African Americans, especially in the South, experienced continuing poverty and hardship in the 1920s” (African Americans and Consumerism). Hurricane of 1926 destroyed over 13,000 homes and killed over 300 people. This hurricane left Florida in what could be considered their own Great Depression from having to recover from everything the Hurricane took from them.

Politics always influence the affairs of the world and in 1920 it influenced the African Americans by the black “utopia”, which is “a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions” (Merriam Webster). In the 1920’s women were just starting to earn some rights. One of these rights was the right to be employed, this was a huge right that was granted to women. However, their job conditions were often harsh low level and low income jobs. Women were discouraged to further education to move higher up in the job rankings. Also most women would were often cooks or maids. Although, for African American women things were much different. Their job offerings were much lower than those of white women, in fact 32 percent of jobs were offered to white and black women. Therefore African American women in this time period were often maids for the white women or were in charge of their own house for a career.

Despite harsh living conditions for the African Americans in the 1920’s. There was an opportunity to enjoy entertainment in many forms. One of the forms is, Jooks. Jooks were considered to be the only source for entertainment or recreational fun that the African American workers had. These buildings were filled with music, dancing, and the occasional gambling. Another form of entertainment was the game of Checkers. Checkers was originally called Draughts because it comes from the verb to draw, which is mainly what you do in checkers. Checkers is a game that requires two people to play. It is said that checkers is a strategy game for the smart, and the smart only. 

Bibliogr Beach, Justin. "Limits to Women's Rights in the 1930s | EHow." EHow. Demand Media, 28 Mar. 2011. Web. 4 May 2013. aphy

"FLORIDAIN THE 1920'S." FLORIDA IN THE 1920'S. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.

"Checkers." - Simple English Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.

"UtopiaAbout Our Definitions: All Forms of a Word (noun, Verb, Etc.) Are Now Displayed on One Page." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.

"Prosperity and Thrift: African Americans and Consumerism." Prosperity and Thrift: African Americans and Consumerism. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.

by Korie Floe