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CHAPTER ELEVEN The Lure of Fraternalism The collapse of the streetcar boycott failed to undermine Mitchell’s faith in the ultimate triumph of right and justice. The “veil of prejudice” would one day be lifted, he promised his readers. “It may take twenty-five years. It may take fifty years; or it may take a hundred years, but it will come.” He warned that “no seeming submission on our part should be construed to mean that we have . . . yielded up one iota of the rights which are guaranteed to us in the Declaration of Independence.” Southern blacks bowed down before discriminatory legislation simply because they had no choice: “The position of Southern Negroes is that while they submit to these persistent and continuing exhibitions of race prejudice . . . they do so under protest. Like a rubber ball, they yield to continuing pressure but whenever that pressure is removed, whether it be this year or next year or the year after or [in] a hundred years, they will return to their normal state.”1 He was foresighted enough to know, however, that the veil of prejudice might not be lifted during his lifetime. At a time when the race’s prospects appeared bleakest, Mitchell embraced a philosophy of self-help that black Americans have traditionally resorted to when other avenues have been closed. He believed that despite Jim Crow and disfranchisement, blacks could still prosper if they focused their attention on economic advance and supported black-run enterprises. Through hard work and self-sacrifice, they could pull themselves up from poverty, better their lives, provide jobs for their children, and ensure the survival of the black community during a time of crisis. In the Planet he applauded every sign of entrepreneurial spirit and exulted whenever new businesses were formed. He might easily have lost heart in the early years of the century had it not been for so many signs of activity behind the veil of segregation. By the time of disfranchisement, three organizations dominated the economic and social life of black Richmond: the Knights of Pythias, led by Mitchell ; the Independent Order of St. Luke, led by Maggie Walker, and the Grand Fountain of the United Order of True Reformers, dominated by W. W. Browne until his death in 1897. The largest by far was the True Reformers, an organization that is little remembered today but pervaded nearly every aspect of community life in black Richmond for three decades. In white Richmond the entrepreneurial ideal put a premium on individual achievement, with business success tied to hard work and lonely struggle. In black Richmond the ideal was much more cooperative, with economic success dependent upon service to others, religious commitment, and race progress.2 Nowhere was this more evident than in the True Reformers, an organization that influenced both Mitchell and Walker and set the standard for business success in the black community. The early history of the True Reformers is somewhat murky, but the order was apparently founded in Kentucky in the 1870s as an affiliate of an all-white temperance group, the Independent Order of Good Templars. The True Reformers retained this emphasis on temperance after breaking away from the white group. The lodges were called Fountains, symbolizing pure and clean water, while the governing body was the Grand Fountain. During initiation rites True Reformers sang this hymn: Welcome, stranger, to our Fountain To its waters now advance Standing firmly on the mountain, Pledged for right and temperance. Welcome stranger, still we’re singing, Hearts united cheer you on— To its waters ever clinging, Health and honor will be won. Initiates then took a temperance pledge and drank from the pure waters of the Fountain.3 As early as 1877 there were five Fountains of True Reformers in Richmond, but the organization was only one of many that flourished in the black community and connected families and neighborhoods. Many of these groups had church affiliations. There were Daughters of Elijah, Rising Sons and Daughters of the New Testament, Children of Emanuel, Sons and Daughters of Noah, and Loving Sons of Galilee. The Independent Order of St. Luke, founded in 1867 in Baltimore by Mary Prout and later led by Maggie Walker, was by 1877 the largest of these organizations, with sixteen councils. The next largest was the Independent Order of Good Samaritans, which had eight lodges and maintained close ties to First Church. Some of these groups were 144 Race Man [52.14.8.34...

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