Why didn’t FDR offer support to African Americans in his New Deal programs? He didn’t want to risk alienating voters in the conservative southern states. He planned to take up the cause of African Americans in his second New Deal after his re-election. He let his wife Eleanor take up the cause of African Americans and other minorities. His New Deal focused on economic reforms rather than social reforms to battle the Great Depression. He appointed several African Americans to his Cabinet in lieu of making provisions for this group through New Deal programs.