The GI Bill of Rights

The G.I. Bill of Rights which is also called the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 is a law that gave a lot of benefits for the veterans who were going back for the World War and which was signed on 1944 June, 22  by Franklin Roosevelt the then President of U.S. This Bill was designed by the American Association of former servicemen. The legion mobilized the chapters of the bill along with the other Foreign Wars’ Veterans which helped them push it through. The main aim of the bill was to reward all the World War II veterans. The act refrained from the highly argued delayed life insurance policy payout (McCardle and Todd 3).

Benefits of the G.I Bill

The bill provided the veterans with a number of benefits.

One, it ensured health care facilities access by the servicemen. In this concern, they could upon their return from service have an access to the hospitals without being charged. In this regard, no person was to be discharged from the military was supposed to be released from the service and mostly if that person had a disability or chronic disease without a plan on his or her health care. The other part of the bill concerning health care clarifies that people should not be forced to open up the origin of their illnesses at any time (Iriye and Akira 102).

A second benefit is the veterans being resettled into civilian life. Connected  to this, the bill allowed the veterans lives to be reformed  by allowing them an access to opportunities concerning employment, training, and education. This majorly gave them a chance to establish a career. In connection, there were home fund loans of not exceeding $2,000,and for education costs up to $500 for education which was per year and also there was assistance in getting employment (Katznelson and Ira 23)

Another benefit was that the bill helped to boost the American economy. This is because the benefits gained through the bill created a new stream of revenue in America. This was made through the provision of $13 billion to 2.4 million veterans through Federal loans for businesses, homes, and farms which generated back capital and helped to relieve the government the burden of supplying too much to the civilians as they were now able to live freely (Katznelson and Ira 47). In order to make this more effective, the soldiers were allowed low cost mortgages and loans with low interest to start a business. This entirely helped in shaping the socioeconomic and political face of America even for the future.

The G.I Bill and Discrimination

Even if the bill providing benefits to all veterans, not regarding race or gender, to some it was hard to adapt than others. Although the black veterans received the tuition money, their choices for colleges were limited as many of the colleges were set apart more so in the southern part. In the North part, the blacks fared better but still, there were low chances to receive higher education near their white peers (Banks et al.51).

Another area of discrimination was witnessed with the local banks often failing to lend money to the black veterans for them to buy homes. Also in the suburban neighborhoods, there was a prohibition of African American’s from moving in. This resulted in most of the blacks remaining in the cities since the whites were many in the suburbs (Banks and Taunya 66)

There also happened to be racial and gender segregation regardless of the provisions bill of rights where both women and blacks we subjected to struggle in receiving education and even jobs (Benson et al.39). Mostly in the southern states, they were steered to unskilled jobs instead of the professional jobs.

Conclusion

Although there were some challenges which were not fully curbed through the provisions by the bill, the veterans were able to enjoy nearly equal to the whites. The bill also played a very big role in making what the now America is and the socioeconomic strength it gained is still yielding more importance to the nationals. The bill has worked as the main milestone in coming up with other related bills, for example, the Montgomery GI Bill.

Works Cited

Benson, Michael T., and Hal R. Boyd. “The public university: Recalling higher education’s democratic purpose.”Thought & Action 2 (2015): 69-84.

Banks, Taunya Lovell. “Race, Place and Historic Moment–Black and Japanese American World War II Veterans: The GI Bill of Rights and the Model Minority Myth.”(2015).

Iriye, Akira. “Outside In: The Transnational Circuitry of US History.”(2018): 374-375.

Katznelson, Ira. “GI Bill (1944).”The Cambridge Guide to African American History (2016): 114.

McCardle, Todd. “A Promise Deferred: Black Veterans’ Access to Higher Education Through the GI Bill at the University of Florida, 1944–1962.”Educational Studies 53.2 (2017): 122-134.