The Folly of Jim Crow: Rethinking the Segregated South

3. The “New Race Question”: The Problem of Poor Whites and the Color Line

CHAPTER฀3 The฀“New฀Race฀Question”:฀The฀Problem฀of฀Poor฀ Whites฀and฀the฀Color฀Line natalie j. ring In฀1905,฀Albert฀Bushnell฀Hart,฀son฀of฀an฀Ohio฀abolitionist฀and฀professor ฀of฀history฀at฀Harvard฀University,฀wrote฀an฀article฀on฀recent฀conditions ฀in฀the฀New฀South฀and฀noted,฀“No฀Northern฀visitor฀crosses฀Mason฀ and฀Dixon’s฀line฀without฀realizing฀there฀is฀a฀Southern฀problem.”฀Having฀ made฀several฀trips฀to฀the฀South฀gathering฀data฀for฀a฀book -฀ length฀study฀of฀ the฀region,฀Hart฀observed฀that฀any฀visitor฀who฀left฀behind฀the฀“manufactures ฀and฀pleasure฀resorts”฀in฀the฀“Northern฀South”฀and฀headed฀to฀the ฀ “real฀Southern฀South”฀would฀discover฀that฀the฀population฀was฀diffused,฀ resources฀were฀scarce,฀commercial฀enterprise฀was฀lethargic,฀labor฀was฀dif- fi ฀cult฀to฀fi ฀nd,฀and฀“above฀all,฀behind฀all,฀and฀through฀all”฀there฀was฀“an฀ antagonism฀of฀[the]฀races”฀which฀hung฀over฀the฀whole฀community฀like฀a฀ dark฀pall.฀The฀Harvard฀professor฀concluded฀that฀any฀northerner฀spending฀ more฀than฀a฀couple฀of฀months฀in฀a฀southern฀community฀would฀become,฀ like฀his฀fellow฀southerners,฀“infected฀with฀this฀uneasy฀sense฀of฀a฀destiny฀ unfulfi ฀lled,฀of฀a฀civilization฀anxious฀for฀its฀own฀future.”1 ฀While฀the฀phrase฀ the฀“southern฀problem”฀often฀was฀elusive฀in฀meaning,฀most฀Americans ฀ recognized฀it.฀The฀expression฀evoked฀an฀image฀of฀a฀backward,฀stagnant,฀ uncivilized฀region฀distinct฀from฀the฀rest฀of฀the฀United฀States.฀As฀historian฀ Larry฀J.฀Griffi ฀n฀argues,฀“In฀no฀other฀case฀.฀.฀.฀were฀social฀problems฀so฀intimately ฀related,฀even฀equated,฀in฀the฀public฀mind฀to฀a฀particular฀region฀for฀ so฀sustained฀a฀period฀of฀time฀that฀the฀region฀itself—rather฀than฀the฀objective ฀conditions—became฀commonly฀understood฀as฀the฀‘real’฀problem.” 2 ฀ In฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀and฀early฀twentieth฀centuries฀an฀array฀of฀institutions ฀and฀“experts,”฀including฀northern฀philanthropists,฀federal฀offi฀cials,฀ southern฀liberals,฀social฀scientists,฀and฀academics,฀wrote฀and฀talked฀extensively ฀about฀the฀“southern฀problem.”฀Over฀time,฀the฀region฀known฀as฀“the฀ South”฀called฀to฀mind฀a฀place฀marked฀by฀inadequacy฀and฀defi ฀ciency. Yet฀the฀“southern฀problem”฀was฀more฀than฀just฀the฀region฀taken฀as฀a฀ 92฀ Natalie฀J.฀Ring whole.฀It฀included฀the฀“race฀problem”฀(almost฀always฀used฀in฀reference฀to฀ African฀Americans),฀rural฀poverty,฀child฀labor,฀one -฀ crop฀agriculture,฀illiteracy ,฀disease,฀political฀demagoguery,฀cultural฀backwardness,฀miscegenation ,฀and฀violence.฀Near฀the฀top฀of฀the฀list฀was฀the฀problem฀of฀poor฀whites฀ or฀what฀Albert฀Bushnell฀Hart฀simply฀referred฀to฀as฀the฀“Caucasian฀problem .”3 ฀Reformers฀and฀philanthropic฀organizations฀such฀as฀the฀Rockefeller฀ Foundation฀identifi ฀ed฀the฀region’s฀large฀number฀of฀poor฀southern฀whites฀ as฀an฀especially฀conspicuous฀and฀alarming฀problem฀for฀several฀reasons. ฀ First,฀many฀poor฀whites฀were฀small฀cotton฀farmers฀caught฀in฀the฀cycle฀of฀ spiraling฀debt฀engendered฀by฀the฀crop฀lien.฀Whether฀they฀could฀extricate฀ themselves฀from฀debt฀and฀become฀productive฀members฀of฀the฀industrial฀ body฀politic฀was฀unclear.฀Second,฀poor฀whites฀suffered฀from฀disproportionately ฀high฀rates฀of฀illiteracy.฀Reformers฀argued฀that฀a฀lack฀of฀education ฀prevented฀poor฀whites฀from฀exercising฀their฀claims฀as฀informed฀democratic ฀citizens.฀Third,฀the฀medical฀community฀singled฀out฀several฀diseases฀ that฀appeared฀to฀be฀confi ฀ned฀largely฀to฀the฀southern฀regions฀of฀the฀United฀ States.฀Poor฀whites฀suffered฀from฀such฀distinctive฀illnesses฀as฀hookworm฀ and฀pellagra฀in฀far฀greater฀numbers฀than฀any฀other฀social฀or฀racial฀group.฀ The฀enervating฀effects฀of฀these฀diseases฀led฀to฀a฀loss฀in฀economic฀production ฀and฀raised฀questions฀about฀poor฀whites’฀ability฀to฀lift฀themselves฀out฀ of฀poverty.฀Finally,฀disease฀coupled฀with฀extreme฀poverty฀and฀illiteracy ฀ among฀lower-฀ class฀whites฀nurtured฀social-฀ scientifi ฀c฀anxieties฀about฀racial฀ degeneration฀at฀the฀very฀moment฀when฀the฀white฀South฀was฀trying฀to฀delineate ฀the฀color฀line฀clearly฀through฀the฀codifi฀cation฀of฀Jim฀Crow.฀Growing ฀evidence฀of฀a฀possible฀degenerate฀white฀race฀moving฀backward฀toward฀ a฀state฀of฀barbarism฀rather฀than฀forward฀toward฀a฀state฀of฀civilization ฀ muted฀the฀distinctions฀between฀black฀and฀white฀and฀challenged฀the฀fi ฀ction฀ embodied฀in฀whites’฀efforts฀to฀keep฀the฀races฀separated฀socially.฀“Mountain ฀whites”฀also฀received฀attention฀from฀reformers,฀but฀they฀were฀not฀typically ฀included฀in฀the฀category฀of฀“poor฀whites”฀because฀their฀presumed฀ contact฀with฀African฀Americans฀and฀slavery฀was฀minimal. What,฀ then,฀is฀the฀broader฀signifi ฀cance฀ of฀national฀interest฀in฀poor ฀ whites฀as฀a฀prominent฀component฀of฀the฀“southern฀problem”?฀Evidence฀ of฀a฀mounting฀concern฀with฀poor฀whites’฀illiteracy,฀indolent฀farming,฀diseased ฀bodies,฀and฀lack฀of฀civilized฀behavior฀challenges฀the฀conventional ฀ narrative฀of฀the฀place฀of฀the฀South฀in฀the฀nation.฀According฀to฀historians฀ such฀as฀David฀Blight,฀Nina฀Silber,฀Grace฀Hale,฀and...