black metropolis

8/13/2019 Black Metropolis

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A$tudyof NegroLife na l{orthernCityst.clairDrake ndHorace .GaytonvolumeRevieed and enlarged edition

rFHARIER oRcrBoo Ks ( rB to86 g2.es


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cHAPTER 3The Great Migration

BLAcKDrAspoRAr9r4-r9r8)rN r9r4 THE TIDE oF EURorEAN MIcRATIoN wAs suDDENLy nEvntsrp.t ,tscountry after country was drawn into the First World War, foreign-born men streamed ome rom Pittsburghand Cleveland,Detroit indToledo, rom mills and mines, o shoulderarms. mmigration virtuallyceased. hicago, oo, lost thousands f workmen.As the war draggedon, the United Statesgradually transformeditself into an arsenal nd granary or Europe.Farmers aid more landto the plow while industrialplantsexpanded roduction.A city whoseeconomic ife dependedupon the foreign-bornto handle its mear,wheat,and steelnow experienced manpowercrisisat the very mo-ment when profits were highestand productiondemandsgreatest.Then the great massof caste-bound egroes n the South stirred.For severalyears he cotton kingdom had been ravagedby the bollweevil sweepingup from Mexico.Flood and famine, too, had con-tinually harassedhe cottonfarmersof the MississippiValley. Prior tor9r5, however, herehad been ittle to encourage lantation aborers orisk life in the city streets.Now there were jobs to artract hem. Re-cruiting agents raveledsouth, beggingNegroes o comenorth. Theysometimes arried free tickets in their pockets,and alwaysglowingpromiseson their tongues.For the first time, southernNegroeswereactuallybeing nvited, even urged, o come o Chicago.They came ndroveslorooo of them between gro and r9zo.And as eachwave ar-rived, the migrants wrote the folks back home about the wonderfulNorth. A food of relativesand friends ollowed in their wake.A bewilderedSouth had visionsof a land left desolateor lack oflabor. From every southernstate he Negroescame,despitedesperateattempts o halt the exodus:2Up from Florida-where the city fathers n ]acksonvillepassed nordinance equiring labor recruiters rom the North to buy a $r,ooolicenseor take the alternativeof sixty days n jail and a $6oo6ne.S8

THE GREAT MIGRATION 59Ilp lrom Georgia-where the Macon city council exacteda recruit-lng iic.t r. feeof z5,oooand demandedhat the labor agentbe recoln-rnlnded by ten loial ministers, en manufacturers, nd twenty-fivebusinessmen.lJp lrom Alabama-where fines and jail sentences ere imposedupo" ""y "person, irm, or corPoration"guilty of "enticing, persuad-ing, or influencing" abor to leaveMontgomery.iip fro- u;si;pp;-wttere agentswere arrested, rains stopped,tickit agentsntimidaied.And at Brookhaven, chartered arcarryingfifty men and womenwasdeliberately idetrackedor threcdays'Still theycamelAs coercio., ailed, worried businessmennd plantersresorted oconciliationand persuasionn an efforr to stem the tide. Leadingrcuthern white newspapers egan o condemn ynching and the in-cquitabletreatment"f t t gto.t in the courts.Conferenceswere heldin large cities and out-of-the-waysouthern towns at which NegrolcaderJwere mplored to use heir good officeswith the field hands.The more astut; Negro negotiators egan o wring promises f moreschools, etter reatment,higher wages,and other reforms rom menwho a yearbeforewould havescornedo conferwith "niggers_."deal-istic southern riendsof the Negro found their taskssuddenlyeasedby theseeconomicmperatives. he southerncaste ystemwas in theprocess f profoundmodification.s' The ChicagoDcfender,a Negro weeklyeditedby Robert S' Abbott,a native of Georgia who had comenorth in the Nineties and made

good,playeda leading ole n stimulating he migration. t coaxed.andchallenged, enounced nd applauded.t organizeda "Great NorthernDrive" and succeededn getting itself banned rom many a southerncommunity. t scofledat the Southerners'eformsunder duress:*Turn a deaf ear to everybody. . . You see hey are not lifting theirlaws o helpyou.Are theyl Have heystoppedheir fim Crowcars?Canyou buya Pullmansleeper hereyou wishl Will theygiveyou a squaredeal n-courtyetl once upona time we permittedotherpeopleo thinkfor us--todayw are thinking and acting or ourselves ith the resultthatour ,,friinds',aregettingalarmed t our progress. e'd ike to obligetheseunselfrsh ? soulsand remainslavesn the South,but to theirscction f the countrywe havesaid,as he songgoes, I hearyou callingme,"and haveboardedhe train singing, Good-bye, ixie Land"'

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6o BLAcK METRoPoLTSEventually America entercd the war. More southern Negroes camcto rcplace tit. m.o who wcre drafted. For four years the- tug of war

bctween northcrn industry and southern planters, northcrn Negroleaders and southern leaders,continued. The migrants kep strearningup the Mississippi valley, riding the real trains of the Illinois ccntralover the r"-. io,tt their forefathers had traveled on the UndergroundRailroad. When the tide slackened n r9zo, Chicago had over a hun-dred thousand Negroes among her population-an increaseof r48 percent in ten years.

Most Negroes visualized the migration as a steP toward the eco-nomic emancipation of a people who had been tied to the southernsoil and confined to cornrnon labor and personal scrvice in the North.The Chicago Delendcr expressed this philosophy in an editorialshortly before the United Statesentered the war. Declaring that "it isan ill wind that blows no one B@d," Editor Abbott saw the Europeanwar not only as "bloody, tragic and deplorable" but also as "oppor-tunity." Coldly realistic, he developed his apologia for encouraging themigration. The European wa,r, he said,o

. . . has causedhe peopleof this and other neutral countries o Prospergready in a financial way. It has meant that the thousandswho a yearago were dependentupon charity are today employed and making a com-fortable living for themselvesand their families. Ttre colored man andwoman are, and must be for someyears to come, laborers.There is noline of endeavor hat we cannot frt ourselves or. Thcse same factories,mills and workshops that have been closedto us, through neccssityarebcing opened o us. We are to be given a chancc,not through choicebutbecauset is expedient.Preiudicevanisheswhen the almighty dollar is onthe wrong side of the balance sheet. . . .Give the best that is in us when we answer the call. It is significantthat the gfeat west is calling to the rcuthern black man to leave his oldhome and come out here where the prospectsare bright for the future'Slowly but surely all over this country we are gradually edging in firstthis and then that place, getting a foothold before making a place forour brother. By this only can the socalled race problem be solved. t ismcrely a question of a better and a closer understanding between theraces.'We re Americansand must live together,sowhy not live in peacel

Negroes were getting the foothold, but the peaceand understandingdid not follow. White Chicagoans viewed the migrants with mixedfeelings. As laborers hey were indispensable.As neighbors they would

THE GREAT MIGRATION 6Ihave o be tolerated.Union men wereapprehensive' nly "Big Bill"iho-oror,' the RepublicanMayor' a"d hit coterieof politicians.truly-;.ilffili.;, "r',rt.v pondeied he traditional political-oyaltiesof;;nA; p."pfu "rra *"i.n.a the First and SecondWard Black Beltprcincts swellamazinglY.t-fir. auitudes f the leneral publicwereundoubtedly haped.to omec*i*, Uy Chicago's ."*tp"p.i headlines nd storieswhich' day afterday, orrrrrr.nt.Jio " nottl ioo friendly vein:

uHALF A MILLION DARKIES FROM DIXIE SWARM TOTHE NORTH TO BETTER THEMSLEVES

NEGROES INCITED BY GERMAN SPIESFederalAgents Confirm Reportsof New-Conspiracyn South;AccuseGermanJfor Exodus rom South2,000 ouTHERN NEGROES ARRM IN LAST TWO DAYSStockyards emand for Labor Causeof Influx

COMMITTEE TO DEAL WITH NEGRO INFLUXBody Formedto SolveProblemDue to Migration to Chicagofrom South

WORK OUT PLANS FOR MIGRATING NEGROESInflux from the SouthCaredFor by the Urban Leagueand Other Societies

Ncgroeswcrcru?idly tePlacing oteigncrsas Chicago'sproblem'"BLACK LEBENSRAUM

The sudden nflux of Negroes nto Chicago mmediately-resolveditr.lf irrtoa struggle or livin[ space' etween gooand r9r4'-the- lackBclt and its saf,-ilitearearhad absorbed ver ten thousandNegroeswithout any serious ifficulty.Now the saturationpoint was reached'and although he migrantshad jobs, herewere iterally no housesorccommod"'tehem. uilding constructionhad virtually ceasedwiththe outbreakof the war. Doubling-up and overcrowdingbecame n-cvitable.The Blaci


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6z BLACK METROPOLISAs in the caseof immigrants, the bulk of the southern migrantsduring the First World War gravitated irst ro those areasof their'tolony" where rents were cheapest nd housing poorest.They tookover the old, dilapidatedshacksnear the railroad tracksand close othe vice area.These neighborhoods ad beenabandonedn the pre-vious decade y Negroeswho becamemore prosperous nd were ableto move away. Now their lessaffluent brothers eplaced hem.This tremendous emand or houses esulted n an immediatesky-rocketingof rents or all available ccommodationsnd in the openingof new residentialareaso Negroes.There were remendous rofits tobe madeby both coloredand white realtorswho couldprovidehouses.And so the spreadof the Negro areasof residence egan,with thewhites eeing before hem. Artificial panicsweresomerimes reatednwhite areas y enterprising ealtorswho raised he cry, "The Negroesare coming," and then proceeded o double the rents after the whiteshad fed."By ryzo a pincers movementof the Negro population had begunalong the two boundariesof the Black Belt, a mile apart, and thepocket n betweenhad begun to close up. (Figure 6.) As Negroesmoved n, they boughtthe synagoguesnd churches, ften at highlyinfated prices, ook over the parksand playgrounds, nd transformedwhite and mixed communities nto solidly Negro areas.To the westof the Black Belt were the Irish, traditionalenemies fthe Negroes n Chicago; to the east were native-Amer icans nd themore prosperous ews,guarding jealously he approacheso rhe de-sirable ake front where they had made investmenrs n residential

property.The Negroespressed gainstboth communities, nd as theyswept$outhward the whites n their path movedeastand to the out-lying areas f the city-but homeswere scarce.The impact of the expandingBlack Belt on institutions n whitemiddle-class ommunitieshas beenvividly described y the pastorofChicago'soldestwhite Baptist church,which was eventuallysold toNegroes:8. . . In r9r5 the cry was heard, The Negroes re coming." . . Thechurch eported . . in r9r8, "Our churchhasbeengreatlyhandicappedduring the pastyearby the great nfux of colored eople nd the removalof many Whites." . . The Negroes oming rom the Southby tens ofthousands,ured by the promiseof high wages n the packinghouses,mills,and railroadyardsof Chicagqswarmedo thi blockssurrounding

Adapted from map in The Negro in Chicago,ChicagoCommissiononRaceRelations,University of Chicago Press, 9zz.

Figure6EXPANSION F THEBLACKBELT

29 ST BEACHWHERETHENOf\ - ' - - ' - - - ' - '\ \ r

g4at,ooTdoGO

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al

JlJ

cU3o

ffit t*trnreroftINAPEA ADDEDBE.lilllll ?'t^/6Er,re2o t,93otT..=,1AF,EADDEDNliiiititr794p-t94,

. HOhtEs 0M8EDBETWEEN9'7 AT{O,92t lNcoNFUCtOYERHOU9'N6

U:a.

63St

/ t^ IDDTECLASSNEIGHSORHOOD


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64 BLACK METROPOLISthe churchbuilding. Beautifulhomesoccupied y familiesbelonging othe church or generationseresold or whatever rice heycould"obuin.Jhe yembershipdeclined o 4o3 and only ,o pir*r* united with thccfrurch n that year.The churchwas face o facewith catastrophe. oeloquent reaching, o social ervice,ouldsave church n a communitythat..wasnearly roo pef celt Negro. . . Meanwhile hc Negroesaresteadily ushingdown the alleys outhwardwith their cartsof f,rrnitur.,but Forty-seventhtreetunningeastandweststill stands sa breakwateragainst he oncomingide.If it crumblesherewill be somenew historvfor the First Church

But the "breakwater" inally bunt. Forty-seventh treet is now inthe centerof the Black Belr.- The expansion f the Black Belt developed omuch friction that inthe invadedneighborhoods ombswereoccasionallyhrown at Negrohomesand thoseof real-estatemen, white and coiored,who sold or::"t.q property-to he newcomers. rom July r, rgrT,to March r, rg2r,fifty_-eight uchbombswerehurledJ (Figuri 6.)This confict over spaceoften came o a headwherc Negroesandwhites-met n public places-at the beaches nd playgrounJsand inthe public schools. articular resentment "r *"ttifitld againstNe-groeswho frequentedbeacheshat white peoplehad come6 think ofas their own. Playground ights betweenNigro and white childrenwere epidemic.Policemen,social workers, and teachers, ven whenthey were not themselves ntagonistic o Negroes,often resorted os:gregation as a convenientmethod of keeping the peace.t0yetthroughoutthis period, despite ension n the areis peripheral o theBlack Belt, therewere alsoadjustedneighborhoodsn other sectionsof the city.whereNegroesand whitesmaintained heir neighborly e-lationsand whereno hostility was evident.tlDuring the war period,civic leaders iewed he situationwith someforeboding'The chicago urban Leaguewas founded n ryr7 to dealspecificallywith he problemof adjusting he migrants o ciiy iif.. th.churches, he newspapers,he yMCA, ind ttrJyWCe had deliber_ately set themselveshe task of-training the peasant olk in the citywaysand of trying to interpret hem to the Nigro old Settlers nd tothosesections f the white community which risented heir presence.Incident after incident,however,auguredan eventuar risis. n r9r9it came.

cHAPTER 4Race Riot and Afterlnath

RIor (r9r9)HERE AND II{ERE THROuGHouT AMERTCAt Tr{E TENSIONS OF POSTWAR RE-;Ji;t ;;";flared intoopen iolence'n he "ott f:TTj:|3:,i:::;;il;-l;;; d..p-iaid f*istrations,uneasyears,and latentsuspicionsbobbed o the surface.Group antagonisms uPPressednd.sublimatedbv the war efiort ,ro* ,..,ui,,.d #th doubled fury' For labor' there*.*-,ft.-;p"lrrr., ,"idr"; for the Negro, lynchingsand riots'.TheSouth,particularly,wasnervous.Returning Negro soldters'heu norl-,oor *'ia.".d through travel, constituteda threat to.{te c";1t-ty-:*th.y ,rrur,bekept i-n heir place.A wave. f interracialconficts sweptrhe countrv involvins cominunities n the North as well as in the,fr. '.ourrrry involving cominunities n the North as well as inSouth.Chicagowasnot sparedts measure f violence'The sporadic .omb-ins of li.gro homes n r9r8 wasbut the preludc o a fiveday riot in;;?;ii;f,;;ot ", t."t, tfiirty-eight ives, esulted n over ive hundredii;,iri.r. destroved z5o,ooo ot"thof ProPerty,and left over a thou-'r#;;"r tti-.ti*. i'or th. first time since186r he Negro was he;;;i;i ; ur"oJy drama.Then he was the hero; now he was thevillain.'-Ti. g.n.tally disturbedbackgrounf oyt of which the Chicago*riot.rff"l& it rev'ealed y a ncws"item n the Chicago ' u:":,1::Y'4)rgrT,reporting " p/*.r, meetingagainst.abloody ri-otyfri; -]radi".riri.a i' B"rt-St. ouis, Illinois.thi article,headlined, LAWYERwARNs NEGROES Hb,nB To ARM SELvEs," quoted one ofChicago'smost resPected nd conservativeNegro,leadett i: ':]^1?"Armlourselves now with guns and pistols.''Another equallyqto-"nent leaderwas quoted as eclaring ihat he.'h33ed God would,de-mand roo,ooowhiie lives in the War for eachNegro slaughtered nEastSt. Louis."2- il. cftL"g" riot beganon a hot July fay in r9r9 as the result ofao "lt.r."tiofi ", " baini"g beach'A lolored boy swam across he6S

{s


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66 BLAcK METRopoLrst-1gTty line which was supposedoat the Twenty-ninth Srr.";;:fi:'rl.'i, *O*"te Negroes rom whitesl#;ffi':,t"h':"t',".s";;;tli'::i?'3.I;:'iru:-liT'-", ffi;t|'' o"t was rowned',olored;,hJ; ; inraged.: ll*'',,,,fi{fl*..iH.T*Tj.lT,T::h\#*#,.J:oloredrowd,t,,:T ,"" 1y"li'ilr . 1",r*. u.y,rl;5ar,tffr::r:*. foughtn tr,.*si;.k Belt_triets.Negroeserer'q'"-;.ffi-=*lfiil}'::':;,,::H:;*tltj*:,.,*P-Pi-.Sr 9f two years efore]frr, #",foughtback. ; u'r Was Pogrom.Bur the Negroes-.*ff-"'J"jrffi::"1: were articurartyitterup anddownhe,1,.m"J'i;;.+.:#:ffi*Tm:"r:[I,f:l*f,..-.ml::i:ll#:l':#:g, x:* l;'TI;#jJ""iorh wardori,iciansho.yn"r'",'i;,'iffi::):fi:'Tl_ti#li,::t113*r.r;.r$:S$UT"3,'ffh$*i:k;.,,o#"i,;.-. rhl',i,ingstockyards"na r,. rlir*a,r*lo j#;:r:':ql-b-orho*s aroundhievidence f the embitt.r.a N.gr;i;r;;:,J;.".., two days,wassilent, The eactionf most"r"r.a..i"i.l.lii,thev ereonsrrainedou. *.iri"- "T:nifitili:*r5?id.theactuarighting'n1iu3.t.ry,;*i.; recognitionof thehorrorsrrthe iot,IikeNegroesf

"lt.i"rr., il.;;derensed,' '# I. Nil;" # I :ifil,:T*:lgm:1i:ent'Theydidnot u:* 1 ri6t asun',,iJe;,.aev' if it focusedtten_ronupon njustices'To them t-il'ff;:" r"-e paradoxicarrements:li:l,'il.',fl."f,'J,T"'i1"Tfl:X$.""*",i,.F;,;#,;il'w,,r nere were some. I;,:::1_,ilJ,i",""J.lnl.xlffiiT,hX""?."l1r::'T:ilJl:,il " ill.'.i,l?,i::fi iq"i it t'''out';'f 'I.s'*l whqheyer,hadness nd professionaiT-:PT.'htm,A groupof representativ.furi-od.,.m',g;:"?::, ::",#'j:ffT"f:#:tjj*;;JirJilT.'3',$.i1"oii[.^5ff$?i:#*,T#"chicagoodesignateersons

RACE RIOT AND AFTERMATH 67lom Gcorgia by way of Canada n 1893,studied law, and amassedp,mc wealth. He insisted hat "a lot of the trouble is due to Negroesfrom the South" and called upon "some representativeNegroes romthesamepart of the country [to] do what they can to help quiet thingsdown."Many Negroesexpressedheir resentmentagainst one Old Setderwho beganhis address y placingthe blamefor the riot on the coloredppulation, stating that "One of the chief causes f the trouble is thatthc coloredmen havebeen aught they must act on the policy of ancyc for an eyeand a tooth for a tooth."

They condemned im as an "IJncle Tom"* when he continued:"This startsa series f reprisals hat is likely to go on until the whiteman will get mad, and if he doeswe know what will happen to theman of color.Someof us forgetthat the white man hasgiven us frec-dom, he right to vote, o live on termsof equalitywith him, to be paidwell for our work, and to receivemany other benefits."They ridiculedhim as a "white man's nigger" for his warning:"If the white man should decide hat the black man has provedhe is not fit to have the right to vote, that right may be taken away.We might also6nd it difficultto receive ther avors o which we havebeen accustomed,nd then what would happen o usl We must re-member hat this is a white man'scountry. Without his help we cando nothing. When we fight the white man we fight ourselves.'We anstart a riot but it takes he white man to stop t. We are not interested

now in what started he riot, but how to stop t. The Germans houghtthese samepeople were so easy-going hat they wouldn't fight, andthey kept stirring things up until the Americansgor mad.That oughtto be warning enought f this thing goeson for threedaysmorc therewill be no jobs or our men to go back o."They agreed,however,with his solution,provided t were impar-tially applied: "If the city cannot resroreorder then let us with theaid of the militia, have martial law, and take the arms away from thehoodlums."The bitterness elt by even he more conservative egro leaders s* "Uncle Tom," the hero of Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous novel of the abo-litionist cra, has become for colored people a symbol of the subservient Negro.The term thus serves as a satirical condemnation of any Negro who is thoughtto be currying favor with white people.

H


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68 BLAcK METRopoLrsplainly revealedn the toneof the annual eportof providentHospitarfor ryry. Proud of thc .efficie".y i,i *iicti it handred i", ."r*rri.r,the hospitalboarddetailed ts activities", follor"r,.. . . A crowd of young white toughs rom in and nearwentwonhAvenue,mainly-.t...loyi, b.g.r,,"iir-irrio,t. corored istrict, estroy_ing' woundingandkilling r. tf,.y -.;;. d; oneof theseripstheraidersshot nto the hospitar. I't"t .o.ning irt..r, ui.ti-s were treatedat the

|;fl"*X.r;lt,o ,n. restcolored . . tt" majorirystabbed, .t.rfb.a,As earlyas hreeo'clock n the afternoon n Monday,a mobgathcredabout.he-hospital. eeling ., ,unrring ugn.U*y "i';';;r.T';"_nd iredby ronghoursof excitementndhard*;;ki f*;r,rir"'"",ur.too weak to stand he hideous ightsanJ Lr-arrr.J-""J G*.il. r.aken wav' . . butexceptor rrti" rf.irr .f iG; ffi ii;t'lr',r,.,,postseveryminute of the time without sreepani without pr"p., ""*irn_ent, for it was difficult from the stan to let food i'to tlie f,itd", During he^twenty-fouroursrommiffi, sr"aly-,"-,oti'rtirr, n""-day,seventy-Eveictimswere aken "r. Jf. A number .o ?ii.* uyfriends after having received treatment "nJ " ,r*r.r died. of thesepatients nine were white. Cots__.r. pl"..J in the wards and in theemergency oom until evcry availablespacewas occupied; hen the victimshad to lie upon the floor.The demand on the, hospital surgical suppliesand food supplieswas|."ur; .fgt"things and .qrrip-.rrt".r6.rJii surgical instruments werelost and broken; mattresseswere ruined, "oi furrri,rrr was wrccked.The references o the treatment of white patients were a deriberatebuild-up for rwo devastating paragraphs:It should be borne in mind that thc conditionsin the colored districrwereexacdy eversedn certain white localitieswhere""y "fi;;J;; Jtor.aperson who appeared*":. ruthlesslyslaughtered,_h.ih., ;;;;";;;"",or baby' From these ocaritiesc"m. the ,1;aing parties that causedsub-stantially all the trouble.The white doctors,of course,were not in attendanceduring this timeand,many of the coloredstaff doctorsand the three colored house nternesworked day and night; sometimes ix op.*ioo, were in progrcssat onetrme.

.. The jaill .leyspapers headlined the Riot as big news, ar the sametime editorialjzing-against it. The Nea., Maioiti, *g"n of ,i. Cii-cago Federation of Labor, prominently displayed "i "rti.f., iFOR

RACE RIOT AND AFTERMATH 69WHITE UNION MEN TO READ," reminding the workers oflbir "hatred of violenceon the picket ine" and insisting hat a heavyrtrponsibility restedon tlem "not becausehey had anything to do?ith starting the present rouble, but because f their advantageouspsition to help end it." 6 The generalpublic watchedand read, butdid not participate.Probably ts sympathies eredividedand its loyal-tiesconfused.Thc Riot was endedon its sixth day by the statemilitia, belatedlycalledafter the policehad shown heir inability, and in some nstancesthcir unwillingness,o curb attackson Negroes.

REcoNcrLIATroN r9zo-r9zz)One resultof the Riot wasan ncreasedendency n the partof whiteChicagoanso view Negroesas a "problem." The rapid influx fromthe Southhad stimulatedawarenessf their presence.he elections fr9r5 and ryr7 had indicated heir growing political power in the Re-publican machine-a circumstanceviewed with apprehensionby boththe Democraticpoliticians and the "good government" orces.Nowthe Riog the screaming cadlinesn the papers,he militia pauollingthe streetswith fixed bayonets, nd the accompanying ysteria em-bedded he "Negro problem" deeply n the city's consciou$ness.Civic leaders, articularl/, were concerned. hey decided hat thedisasterdemandedstudy, so Governor Lowden appointed he non-partisar5nterracialChicagoCommission n RaceRelations o investi-gate he causes f the Riot and to make recommendations. or the next

twenty years ts suggestionset the patternof activity for suchcivicgoups as the Urban kague, the YMCA, and various public agencics.The Commission's eport was the fust formal codification of Negro-white relations n Chicagosince he daysof the Black Code.After a year of study he Commission eported hat it could suggestno "ready remedyr" no "quick meansof assuringharmony betweenthe racesr" ut it did offer certainsuggestionsn the hope hat "mutualunderstandingand sympathybetween he raceswill be followed byharmonyand cooperation." t based ts faith on "the civic conscienceof the community" and opined hat "progress houldbegin n a direc-tion steadilyaway from the disgraccof t9r9."Immediately after the Riot there had beensomesentimcnt favoringa segregation rdinance. he aldermanof one white ward introduced

ll.rlr


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70 BLAcK METRopoLrsa resolution in the city council asking for an interracial commissronto investiga-tehe causesof the Riot id ,.to equitably fi* , ,orr. o,zones.. . . -for fu purposeof limiting within its'borders the residencepl oily colored or white-prsons.',Alderman Louis B. Anderson,Mayor Thompson'scolored-foor leader, "spoke *itt, ".Jiir-* r.-rcntmenc'u"glior the resolution,and it wasreferred o the iudiciarycommiftee and subsequentlydropped. The Governort commission,tT:_y"t emphatic n its repudiationof sucha solution,declaring hat:"We are convinced. y our inquiry . . . that -."rrrr., involving orapproachingdeportation or segtig"iion are illegal, impracticable'andwould not solve,but would

"...rrtlu"t.,the race roblem and postpone

its iust and orderly solutionby the process f ajjustment." r --'rThe Negro had cometo Chicago'to stayThe Commissionwas-v,trI specific n its chargesand did not hesi-

:lf, ,: allocateresponsibility for the conditions"which producJ theTlo '-'tsven overnmental gencies ereasked o assumeheir shareofthe blame.To the police,militi", state,sattorney,and courts, he Com-mission recommended.he correction-of "gross inequalitiesof protec-tion" at beachesnd playgrounds nd duri-ng iots; ,ebuked he'courtstor tacetiousnessn dealing with Negro cases, nd the policefor unfairdiscrimination in arresrs.t r,rgg.rt ".l the closing of tie white "aou-ent "athledc clubs." It asked the authorities io "promptly riJ thel$.gro residcnceareasof vice resorts,whosepresent *..piiorr"l Dreva-lence n suchareass due to official laxiry." itt. city co^u".ir"iJ "d-inisuative boardswere asked o be more vigilant in the condemna-,i?T .""{ razing of "all housesun6t for hum-anhabitation, many ofwhich the commission has found to exist in the Negro residlnccareas."In such martersas rubbish and garbagedisposa"l, s well asstreet epair,Negro communitiesweresaidto bi shamefuilyneglected.suggestionswere made rhat more adequate ecreationalacili"tiesbeextcnded o Negro neighborhoodgbut-also that Negroesshould beprg:o:d in their_right ro usepublic {acilities anywher"en thc city.The Boardof Mucation wai asked o exercisepecial are n sJlect-ing principals and teachersn Negro communitiesl to afleviateover-crowding and double-shiftschools; o enforcemore carefuly the regu-lations-egarding ruancyand work-permits or minors,""i ,o .rr'"U-Irsh adequatenight schools.Restaurants,heaters,stores,and otherplacesof public accommodationwere informed that "Negroes:*e en-

RACE RIOT AND AFTERMATH 7T

the use of Negoes as strike$reakers and against excludingfrom unions and industries."Deal with Negroes as workmen oncameplane as white workersr" was the suggestion.Negroes wereUltd to join labor rrnions. "Self-sceking agitators, Negro or whitc,lho usc race sentiment to establish separateunions in uades wherefbti"S unions admit Negroes to equd membership" were roundlySndcmned,As to the struggle for living spacq a sectionof the report directedtpward the white membersof the public reiteratedthe statement hatNcgroeswere entitled to live anywhere n the city. It pointed out sev-cral neighborhoodswhere they had lived harmoniously with whitelcighbors for years, nsisted hat property depreciation n Ncgro areastras oftcn due to factors other than Negro occupancy'condcmned ar-hitrary advanceof rents, and designated he amount and quality ofhousing as "an all-important factor in Chicago'srace problem." Thefinal verdict was that "this situation will be made worseby methodstcnding toward forcible segrcgationor exclusion of Negroes.", Not all of the Commission'sadvice and criticism was directed atptrblic agencies nd white persons'however.The Negro workers whohad so recently become ndustrialized were admonished o "abandonthc practiceof seekingpetty advancepaymentson wagesand the prac-ticc of laying off work without good cause."Therc was an impliedcriticism of the coloredcommunity, too, n a statementurglng Negrocs'to contribute more freely of their money and personaleffort to theoocialagenciesdevclopedby public-spirited members of their grouP;also to contribute to the general social agenciesof the community."Negroes were asked to protest "vigorously and continuously . . .against he presencen their residence reas f any vicious esort" andto assistn the preventionof vice and crime.The Commission expressedparticular concern over growing raceonsciousness, phenomenonof which the riot itself was widence.The Negro community was warned that "while we recognize theprroprietyand socialvaluesof race pride among Negroes . . . thinkingand talking too much in terms of race aloneare calculated o Promotescparationof race nterestsand therebyto interfere with racial adiust-ment." Negro newspaperswcre advised to exercisegreater care and

by law to the same reatment as other prsons" and were urgpdrern their policiesand actions accordingly.ploycrs and labor organizationswere admonished n rcme detail


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72

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BLACK METROPOLIS RACE RIOT AND AFTERMATH 73llnt morenewsaboutNegro achievement. nd asa concessiono thatbuchy aspect f Negro-whiterelations eferred o in the Eightiesbytr Consiuator, the Commission ecommendedhe capitalizationofdlc word "Negro" in racial designations, nd avoidance f the wordslggcr"ascontemptuous nd needlesslyProvocative."

OLD SETTLERS ND NEWWhen the GreatMigration began here wereabout orty-four thou-mnd Negroes n Chicago.When it ceasedhere wereover a hundred

thousand.As has beenseen,he impact of this infux upon the whitecommunity resulted n a raceriot. Its effecton the coloredOld Set-tlers,while lessdramatic,wasneverthelessisturbing.The southernmigrants reactedenthusiasticallyo the economicop-portunitiesand the freeratmosphere f theNorth. But the Old Settlerswere far from enthusiasticover the migrants, despite he fact thatmany of them were evenrually o profit by the organizationof theexpanding Negro market and the black electorate.The Riot, tothem,marked a turning point in the history of Chicago.Even today,as hey reconstructhe past, hey ook backon an era before hat shat-tering eventwhen all Negroeswho wanted to work had jobs,whena premium was placedon refinementand gentility, and when therewasno prejudice o mar the relationsbetweenNegroesand whites.Astheysee t, the newcomers isturbed he balance f relationships ithinthe Negro community and with the white community. From theirpoint of view, the migrants were peoplewho knew nothing of thecity's traditions,were unawareof the role which Negroeshad playedin the political and economic ife of Chicago,and did not appreciatethe "sacrifices f the pioneers."Old Settlers till complain that the migrants "made it hard for allof us." Typical of such statementss that of a woman who came toChicagoasa child in the Nineties: "There was no discrimination nChicagoduring my early childhooddays,but as the Negroesbegancoming to Chicago n numbers t seemshey brought discriminationwith them."Another woman,whose amily arr ived in 19o6,nsists hat "There'sjust as much difference n Chicagonow as to what it was then asnight and day. Why, you could work anywhere.You could even

accuracyn reporting incidents nvolving whitesand Negroesand r,rabandon ensaiional-headlines"nd ".ri.li. on racialquestions.he irr.vestigationhad revealed he existence f several *",, N.g.o grou1,*,suchas the Garveyites nd Abyssinians,"il;;;ii"rir""Jo3*o ,.,any_nterracial collaboration. he commission ,;;k;; ,llti i'a,_tecdy:"We recommendo Negroeshe promulg"tio'oirouoJr".lrtdoctrinesamong he uneducati *.-b.i" "r trr.'ir gt;"p, "nJ'Irr. ar*::l:^g:i.", ,of froeaSalda and agitatorsseekinf ,. 'i"n"-.- r".i"lanrmosrtyand to incite-Negroes o violence.,,.Th"erewas, finally, aword of commendationor iire work of "the.chic"d urb;rril"gu.,the Negro churches, nd other organization,n f".if;t"tirrgiir. J;rr,_ment of migrant Negroes rom tf,e south to the conditi&r, or tiuirrgin Chicago.""*^Tr1t::: to specificrecommendations f the type referred toaDove,hereportproposed long-range ducational rogr"_ groundedin the belief hai.,19 oner*ti. oiN.gro i, *f,oUi fr..-iro_ "n1lY:T.. of prejudicen feeling nd fi ,iri'ki'g. .'. .-t"tu,'uf,rr,-oerstandlng and svmpathy . . . can come complet-elyonly after thedisappearaice of preyudice.Thus af,. ,.-.ay is necessarilyslow.,,Social and civic organizations, labor unions and churches, were1s|


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74 BLACK METROPOLTSdemand what you wanted, but you can't do that now. The peolrlcwasn't so preiudiced then as they are now."The theme of these denunciations is usually the idea that the nrigrants "didn't know how to act" or that they "spoiled things," rathcrthan the mere fact of an increase n the number of Negroes. Occasion.ally, the remarks are tinged with scorn and bitterness, as in the cascof a colored civil engineer who came ro Chicago before the SpanishAmerican War:"As far as Negroes are concerned, there were very few here then,and the ones that were here had been here for years.They were jusrabout civilized and didn't make apes our of themselves ike the oneswho came here during rgrT-t8. We all suffer for what one foolwill do."

Old Settlers sometimes cite specific areas of activity in which theyinsist little prejudice was shown. One of them paints a glowing pictureof the "good old days":"During that time [r9rz] there wasn'r any difference showr in colorat all. In the Loop itself they had Negro clerks in the leading stores.So far as professional and businessmen were concerned, the coloreddoctors had as many white customers as colored. During that time,people would get the first doctor they could, regardlessof color. Whitepeople didn't pay any attention to your color. In fact, I went every-where I wanted to go and there was no difference shown me, and youcan look at my color and see hat nobody'd mistake me for any orhernationality. You take the restaurants-you could go into any of themdowntown that you wanted to and you would be served courteously."Another Old Settler, a son of slave parents, came to the ciry in rli87from Missouri at the age of nineteen. He mentions the prevalence ofmiscegenation as an index to the freedom existing at the time :"In those days Chicago was in its youth. I was a young man andsoon got a job waiting table in various restaurants and working inhotels. I made eighteen dollars a month."Well, all the Negroes lived down round the Loop. Those were thegood old days. There was some colored men that had white wives andthey lived gmd and was respectable.My aunt lived on Twenty-secondand Cottage-I lived with her. There was a white family lived thereand we all got along fine."

Much of this testimony must be discounted as retrospective myth,but the fact remains that the Great Migration and the Riot profoundly

RACE RIOT AND AFTERMATH 75

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dercrl rclationships etweenNegroes"1d th: white residents f Chi-ffiil;""g.ain. C"rJ*onoLi.and ocialtructuref theNegroGmmunity.lngroN;;;;:t formed smafialmosttq:]f11t ft'd rhc ciry's ife. By r9i there were enough o attractattention'andt. ;;nfiil oi ,t t i"nt* hadexcitedpprehension'I'he bulk of tr,. -if'";;t;;;t to- ire city from the.semifolkcul-

l[rc of the rural St"th";C;;t the daily 'ot'ni *"t timed by what onetminent anthropologi't "' t"Utd "the great clocksof the sky"'8 andil:;;;;;"'rj"rtitr'* 'i life wasset5y the cultivationof the cottonrnd the cane.Their ;t;t-t"tk was to adiu't themselveso a modernlndustrialcity- Life t;^;i;;y involved he-substitutionof the clockfor thesunand*,. ai"iiii*-if 'nt factory or that of the agriculturalcvcrc.r,rlr-.::1"]iHSff:,:LT,T,o"T:f:l,yi:|"1'*vrrietY of assoctattonslcts, and new oPPortunities in industry and politics'when the migrant;t;;;;;;J ititt the city' social agencies andcommunity institutions rn"dt " consciouseflort to adiust them to citylifc. But the Negro t"-rn""ity as it exists today is not so much the;;;;;ti;"y .'""r.lJ"t -""ii"r"tu" by socialaqencies

nd old set-tlcrsas t is a natur"fgto*tn.'the migiantswttJ gtaduallyabsorbedinto the economic, "t[f, ""a pofiticailife of the city' They have in-il;; "rrd -odin.d it' tttt city has'

n turn' changed-them'The introdu.rion Jf-ou.r An'ithousand new individuals into theBlackBelt within a periodof ten yea'sswelled he membership f all;;irfi .rg"rrir"tio* to the bursting point' As grouPsof migrantsfound their .orrg.nr"l irrt.ll..t,t"1 anJ social evels,old organizationsil;i;;;;;;;;- ;iditional units of older associations ndchurches .r. to'-tJ;-tt- typt' of organizations ame nto being'Old socialPatterns,

";;-;ttJ'oftt".tttoidified by the migrants who;;fi;.ir southre;;usroms. Leaderssometimes ad to shift theirappealsand techniqutt i" at"f with the newcomers'New leaders;til .ro rror,, tnJ sttirt to challengeand supplement r supplanti#'td#;"t-r.latttttiP'..old SettlJrs,ould not isolate he new'.o*.rr. th.y ,"." eventuallyswampedby them'The migrant, f.;i';-#ctionini political machine n the BlackBelt which *.t.o*ti1t"ir participaiion'From the Southwhere hey;; ;itft""chised they came nto a communitywhere he Negro votewas not orrty pt'-ititd but was actually cultivated' The migrantslearnedquickly, and theyweresoon ncorporatednto the First Ward


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76 BLAcK METRopoLrsmachine in the bailiwick of the news-rsakingbosseq ,Bath-houscl9_h] 9rghli" and "Hinky -Dink" Kenna. in the N.grc i..;"dward.they learned hat the political life of the communi,y'*r,

"ui.aith the world of the saloonand the gaming house. r.y rl"rn.J *dcal with such influential figures "i .,M,irh*outh,, /6hns"", ,Lgamblcr,and "Teenan"Jones,-the aloon-keeper,hoseio*.rfJ *aalmost le-gcndaryigures of the Negro demimonde and underworrd-It was all new and exciting. The -rnigrants accepted.t *ith d$oand found their place n the-pattern,ofien learningto play .h. ;;;of_politicswith skill and daring.^

In rgro.Chicago'sl.gro.t *ir. "relativelysmallgroup of servanrs.By ryaothey formed a large segmentof the indusrri'"I piol.t"ri"t. g",tween-war's end in r9r8 and war's beginning in ry39,over rooro@more-Negroeswereabsorbed y Chicagot rapiJly .*p"inai.rg ..orro_y,andthemeasure f their fatewaskeyJ to th. .i.r.*do, "id di*io*endosof the American ife during tLe Twentiesand Thirties.

black metropolis

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