Crosscut Now
Mar. 29, 2023 - How racism reshaped the CCC
3/30/2023 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
How racism reshaped the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The New Deal program that rebuilt Washington parks is remembered as boldly progressive. But early attempts to rid it of discrimination unraveled.
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Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS
Crosscut Now
Mar. 29, 2023 - How racism reshaped the CCC
3/30/2023 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
The New Deal program that rebuilt Washington parks is remembered as boldly progressive. But early attempts to rid it of discrimination unraveled.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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A storied federal program known as Civilian Conservation Corps almost broke the color barrier but failed to achieve its potential.
As part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the CCC was signed into law by Executive Order in 1933.
It reshaped parks throughout Washington State and the rest of the country, and at first it was intended to push back on racist practices that were common.
Yet events sent two Washington State parks which Crosscut has pieced together from limited surviving state and national documentation reveal how the CCC's progressive aims on race soon came undone.
The federal government issued a directive that no black enrollees could serve outside of their home state, and that any currently serving were to be promptly sent back for reassignment.
A mandated formal segregation policy was issued soon after.
I'm Paris Jackson.
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