Right now, it is time for the way Black History Fact. In today's way Black History Fact comes from history dot Com. I'll share a bit. When Eugene Burnett saw the neat tracked houses of Levittown, New York, he knew he wanted to buy one. It was nineteen forty nine, and he was ready to settle down in a larger home with
his family. The newly established Long Island suburbs seemed like the perfect place to begin their postwar life, one that he hoped would be improved with the help of the GI Bill, a piece of sweeping legislation aimed at helping World War Two veterans like Burnett prosper after the war. But when he spoke with the salesman about buying the house using a GI Bill guaranteed mortgage, the door to suburban life and Levintown slam firmly in his face. The
suburb wasn't open to black residents. The Burnetts weren't the only Black Americans for whom the promise of the GI Bill turned out to be an illusion. Though the bill helped white Americans prosper and accumulate wealth in the post war years, it didn't deliver on that promise for veterans of color. In fact, the wide disparity in the bill's implementation ended up helping drive growing gaps in wealth, education,
and civil rights between white and Black Americans. While the GI Bill's language did not specifically exclude African American veterans from its benefits, it was structured in a way that ultimately shut the doors for the one point two million black veterans who had bravely served their country during World War II and segregated ranks. Again, I want to share that this is from History dot com, not Ramses dot com, not Q dot com, not CIVI exci fort a, History
dot com. Right, let me continue. When lawmakers began drafting the GI Bill in nineteen forty four, some Southern Democrats feared that returning black veterans would use public sympathy for veterans to advocate against Jim Crow laws. To make sure the GI Bill largely benefited white people, Southern Democrats drew on tactics they had previously used to ensure that the
new deal helped as few black people as possible. From the start, black veterans had trouble securing the GI bills benefits veterans who did qualify could not find facilities that delivered on the bill's promise. Black veterans in a vocational training program at segregated high school in Indianapolis were unable to participate in activities related to plumbing, electricity, and printing because inadequate equipment was only available to white students. Simple
intimidation kept others from enjoying Gibill benefits. In nineteen forty seven, for example, a crowd hurled rocks at black veterans as they moved into a Chicago housing development. Thousands of black veterans were attacked in the years following World War Two, and some were singled out and lynched. Though Mississippi Congressman John rankin Hart had lost the battle to exclude black men from BA unemployment insurance, it was doled out inequitably.
Most men who applied for unemployment benefits were kicked out of the program if any other work was available to them, even work that provided less than subsistence wages. Southern postmasters were even accused of refusing to deliver the forms to black veterans needed to fill out to receive their unemployment benefits.
Black veterans and civil rights groups protested their treatment, calling for protections like the black involvement in the VA and non discriminatory loans, But racial disparities in the implementation of the GIBA had already been set into motion. As years went on, white veterans flowed into newly created suburbs, where they began amassing wealth and skilled positions, but black veterans lacked those options. The majority of skilled jobs were given
to white workers. The housing boom almost entirely excluded Black Americans, most of whom remained in cities that received less and less investment from businesses and banks. Though the GI Bill guaranteed low interest mortgages and other loans, they were not administered by the VA itself. Thus the VA could co sign but not actually guarantee the loans. This gave white run financial institutions free reign to refuse mortgages and loans
to black people. We now know this as redlining, which if you don't know anything about redlining, please look that up. But this is what led to that, and then there was a mass shift in wealth away from black folks after that as well.