Affirmative Actions

The Racial Politics of Celebration in Philadelphia’s Public Sphere.

Annis Whitlow, MCP

Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT.

• Hypothesis: Communities use public celebrations to assert and affirm new public political identities and roles.

• Case: Philadelphia: Racial identity politics– Mummers Parade (white political identity)– Odunde Festival (Pan-African political identity)

Overview

Two Festivals, Two ‘Philadelphian’s

Mummers (Masqueraders), 1st of January, Broad (or Market) Street, Philadelphia

Odunde! (Happy New Year!), 2nd Sunday in June, West South Street, Philadelphia

W H

I T E

B L

A C

K

Background: Philadelphia

• Population: approx. 1.5 million (has been decreasing since the

1950s.

• Neighborhoods: Center City (original city boundaries), North

Philadelphia (Temple University), West Philadelphia (University

City), South Philadelphia (Mummers and Odunde).

• Demographics: 45% white, 43% black.

• Immigration: Limited flow of immigrants into the region.

• Gentrification: Has become an issue for populations living in and

around Center City.

Background: Demographics

North Philadelphia

West Philadel-phia

South Philadelphia

Center City

Background: Immigration

More than 10% Foreign Born

Less than 5% Foreign Born

Percent Foreign Born

Philadelphia Region

• Less than 10% of the population in the Philadelphia region is foreign-born.

• The city has not experienced the influx of immigrants common to many other urban areas.

Background: Gentrification

• Blocks around South Street

and the Delaware River have

shown an increase in

residential sale price of 27%

to 4964%.

• In the southwest, which is

predominantly African

American, these blocks are

adjacent to blocks where

housing value is falling

precipitously.

Background: Philadelphia

• Pre-1854 City

Boundary: Area

currently known as

Center City.

Background: Philadelphia

• Pre-1854 City

Boundary: Area

currently known as

Center City.

• Axes: Broad Street

Background: Philadelphia

• Pre-1854 City

Boundary: Area

currently known as

Center City.

• Axes: Broad Street,

Market Street

Background: Philadelphia

• Pre-1854 City

Boundary: Area

currently known as

Center City.

• Axes: Broad Street,

Market Street

• Boundaries: South

Street

Background: Philadelphia

• Pre-1854 City

Boundary: Area

currently known as

Center City.

• Axes: Broad Street,

Market Street

• Boundaries: South

Street, Vine Street

Expressway.

Background: Philadelphia

• Pre-1854 City

Boundary: Area

currently known as

Center City.

• Axes: Broad Street,

Market Street

• Boundaries: South

Street, Vine Street

Expressway.

• City Hall is located at the

intersection of Broad and

Market.

Mummers – Odunde Timeline

• Prior to the 20th Century, power in Philadelphia was

concentrated in the Anglo-Protestant upper class in

Center City.

• Blacks and working class immigrants formed

Philadelphia’s underclass.

• Early 19th c.: Immigrant Population Growth

– Violence and tension to the South and North

• After Civil War: The Great Migration

– Consolidation, rule of law

• 1901: Millennium Philadelphia

– European immigrants racialized as White, gain power.

Mummers – Odunde Timeline

• 1964: Mummers Blackface Controversy

– Blacks protest Mummers’ use of blackface

• 1975: Oshun (Odunde!) Festival Begins

– Street Festival started by Lois Fernandez

• 1990s: Philadelphia Revitalization

– Mummers moved to Market Street

– Tourism in Center City promoted

– Gentrification threatens Odunde

• Ethnic whites increased control over city politics in the 20th

century.

• Civil Rights era was an opportunity for blacks to create a

new political identity.

Mummers Parade

• Ethnicity and

Racialization

– Anglo vs. Other

– “White” vs. Other

• Political Connections

– Department of Recreation

– Mayoral Support

• Spatial Politics

– Route

Mummers Parade

ETHNICITY AND RACIALIZATION

• Anglo vs. “Other”

– During the 18th and 19th century, ethnic Yule

celebrations reviled by Philadelphian

Quakers

– Rioting against Irish Catholics.

• “White” vs. “Other”

– Late 19th and 20th century cultural practices

(boosterism, minstrelsy, Mummers parade)

tie Philadelphia’s European immigrant

communities to its Anglo community.

Mummers Parade

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

• Department of Recreation

– Mummers have a organizational

structure within the Philadelphia

Department of Recreation

• Mayoral Support

– Mummers Parade enjoyed its greatest

support from Mayor Frank Rizzo, a

South Philadelphia generally

considered racist by the African

American community.

Mummers Parade

POLITICAL CONNECTIONSPhiladelphia New Years Shooters and Mummers Association

Mummers Parade

SPATIAL POLITICS

• Route:

– Visually and physically connects

immigrant South Philly to Center City

and City Hall

Mummers ParadeSPATIAL POLITICS

• Route:

– Routinely adjusted according to demographic shifts

Proportion of Blacks in Philadelphia Neighborhoods

Mummers Parade

SPATIAL POLITICS

• Route:

– Routinely adjusted

according to demographic

shifts

Proportion of Blacks in Philadelphia Neighborhoods

Mummers Parade

SPATIAL POLITICS

• Route:

– Routinely adjusted

according to demographic

shifts

Proportion of Blacks in Philadelphia Neighborhoods

Mummers Parade

SPATIAL POLITICS

• Route:

– Routinely adjusted

according to demographic

shifts

– Outcry against moving the

Parade to Market Street in

1990s.

– Parade moves “back to

South Philly”

Moved to Market Street in the 1990s

Odunde Festival

• Race and Ethnicity

– Black vs. White

– Black vs. African

• Political Connections

– Mayoral Support

• Spatial Politics

– Route

Odunde Festival

RACE AND ETHNICITY

• Black vs. White:

– Racial identity is inherently political

– Blacks continue to be marginalized

in Philadelphia

• Black vs. African

– Ethnic identity implies cultural ties

– Pan-African identity unites

Philadelphian blacks.

Odunde Festival

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

• Mayoral Support

– Mayor Street is the first mayor to

participate in the procession

– As City Council President, Street

fought for the festival

Odunde Festival

SPATIAL POLITICS

• Route

– Procession starts at

Gray’s Ferry

• Heart of African American

South Philly

– Follows South Street to

the River

• Gentrified, “European-

American” Area

Odunde Festival

SPATIAL POLITICS

• Route

– No direct view to Center City

– Articulated as a response to

gentrification and

demographic changes.

– Street vendors extend as

down South and Gray’s

Ferry.

Two Festivals, Two ‘Philadelphian’sAttendance:

• Odunde:

– up to 300,000+

– Predominantly African American street presence

• Mummers:

– has been 300,000; now closer to 100,000 or less

– South Philadelphia street presence:

• Smaller, more diverse

– Center City:

• Larger, predominantly white

Other Issues

INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION

• Information on African American historical

perspectives in Philadelphia is less widely available

than that on European American perspectives.

• E.g: Blackface Controversy:

– White/Mummers Perspective Recorded in 1 book, 4

dissertations

• Book available from 146 libraries worldwide (in 32 states

and Canada)

– Black Perspective Recorded in 1 book

• Book available in 13 libraries worldwide (in 7 states).

THANK YOU.

Information in this presentation has beencompiled in my Masters Thesis:

The Racial Politics of Urban Celebrations: A Comparative Studyof Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade and Odunde Festival