The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study

Chapter XVI. The Contact of the Races

CHAPTER XVI. THE CONTACT OF THE RACES. 47. Color Prejudice.-Incidentally throughout this study the prejudice against the Negro has been again and again mentioned, It is time now to reduce this somewhat indefinite term to something tangible. Everybody speaks of the matter, everybody knows that it exists, but in just what form it shows itself or how influential it is few agree. In the Negro's mind, color prejudice in Philadelphia is that widespread feeling of dislike for his blood, which keeps him and his children out of decent employment, from certain public conveniences and amusements, from hiring houses in many sections, and in general, from being recognized as a man. Negroes regard this prej udice as the chief cause of their present unfortunate condition. On the other hand most white people are quite unconscious of any such powerful and vindictive feeling; they regard color prejudice as the easily explicable feeling that intimate social intercourse with a lower race is not only undesirable but impracticable if our present standards of culture are to be maintained; and although they are aware that some people feel the aversion more intensely than others, they cannot see how such a feeling has much influence on the real situation or alters the social condition of the mass of Negroes. As a matter of fact, color prejudice in this city is something between these two extreme views: it is not to-day responsible for all, or perhaps the greater part of the Negro problems, or of the disabilities under which the race labors; on the other hand it is a far more powerful social force than most Philadelphians realize. The prac- (32 2 ) Sect. 47.] tical results of the attitude of most of the inhabitants of Philadelphia toward persons of Negro descent are as follows: I. As to getting work: No matter how well trained a Negro may be, or how fitted for work of any kind, he cannot in the ordinary course of competition hope to be much more than a menial servant. He cannot get clerical or supervisory work to do save in exceptional cases. He cannot teach save in a few of the remaining Negro schools. He cannot become a mechanic except for small transient jobs, and cannot join a trades union. A Negro woman has but three careers open to her In this city: domestic service, sewing, or married life. 2. As to keeping work: The Negro suffers in competition more severely than white men. Change in fashion is causing him to be replaced by whites in the better paid positions of domestic service. Whim and accident will cause him to lose a hard-earned place more quickly than the same things would affect a white man. Being few in number compared with the whites the crime or carelessness of a few of his race is easily imputed to all, and the reputation of the good, industrious and reliable suffer thereby. Because Negro workmen may not often work side by side with white workmen, the individual black workman is rated not by his own efficiency, but by the efficiency of a whole group of black fellow workmen which may often be low. Because of these difficulties which virtually increase -competition in his case, he is forced to take lower wages for the same work than white workmen. 5.202.224] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 19:42 GMT) The Contact o.f the Races. [Chap. XVI. 3. As to entering new lines of work: Men are used to seeing Negroes in inferior positions; when, therefore, by any chance a Negro gets in a better position, most tnen immediately conclude that Ile is not fitted for it, even before he has a chance to show his fitness. If, therefore, he set up a store, men will not patronize him. If he is put into public position men will compla in, If he gain a position in the commercial world, men will quietly secure his dismissal or see that a white man succeeds him. 4. As to his expenditure: The comparative smallness of tIle patronage of the Negro, and the dislike of other customers makes it usual to increase the charges or difficul ties in certain directions in which a Negro must spend money. He must pay more house-rent for worse houses than most white people pay. He is sometimes liable to insult or reluctant service in some restaurants, hotels and stores, at public resorts, theatres and places of recreation; and at...