Chapter IX: Public Opinion in Race Relations (3)

I question whether the prejudice is greater the greater the
isolation. The word isolation should be analyzed into physical
or economic on the one hand, and psychological on the other.

Plato asked, "What is justice?" The answer can never be final,
and one's concept of it is usually colored by interest. A
sociological definition of justice is in terms of harmony
or harmonization of interests. Complete harmony never does
exist, else we should have no thought and no progress, but
harmonization of interests can be a continuous process, and
is not irreconcilable with the existence of minorities and
majorities.

K--

I have formed no definite opinions about Negroes. I am inclined
to the opinion that generally the balance is found on the
side of the white races. In general I believe they possess
distinguishing traits of mentality and character. I find it
very difficult, however, to define my opinion regarding this.

When I was in high school in Petersburg, Illinois, from 1895 to
1898, the school had an attendance of about forty. There were
two Negroes, a boy and a girl. The boy's name was John Gaddie.
I have the impression now that they both acted as though they
were out of place. I found John a likeable boy. I think all
of the members of the school liked him. I particularly liked
him, so paid considerable attention to him, to which John
reacted in a decided manner. He never forgot it. I do not like
to shake hands with Negroes. I avoid it whenever I can, but
I never had any hesitancy in shaking hands with John. After
finishing school, I went to college and John went to work. His
work was some sort of manual labor. From time to time when I
went back to Petersburg I saw John, always spoke to him, shook
hands with him and talked to him. John appreciated this very
much and acted as though he regarded it a condescension on my
part. I am not aware that I feel toward any other Negro as I
feel toward John Gaddie.

I was first conscious of a racial difference when I first
knew the Negro, which was when I was about fifteen years of
age. In the small town of Petersburg (about 3,000 inhabitants)
the Negroes there, as here in Chicago, lived in a segregated
district. There were no clashes between the Negro and the
whites but the racial difference was obvious enough.

I know very few Negroes. I know too little to be in a position
to consider anyone as a leader among the colored people in
Chicago or the United States. I never read a Negro periodical.
The subjects most frequently leading to the discussion of the
Negro are riots, housing problems, certain industrial problems,
and, here in Chicago, politics.

The fact that the Negroes obstinately objected quite logically
would not interfere with making any adjustment which seemed
"wise." The social adjustment which seemed "wise" would have
to be based on the possibility of objection on the part of
the Negro. If the leaders were obstinate, some other solution
would have to be worked out, but if the leaders saw that it
was wise and for the best interest of the masses I would insist
that the plan be tried out.

I do not comprehend what is meant by "demand." It may mean
ambition for social standing in the sense of intermingling with
the whites. It may mean other things. No matter what it means,
I am not impressed, if the statement is true, that it is any
reason for not educating the Negro. I am not impressed that
it becomes necessary either to curtail or modify the Negro's
education or to grant their demands whatever they may be.

I do not think it true that prejudice has its basis in fear.

So far as I am familiar with it there is naturally a very
high degree of segregation of the Negro as to living quarters
everywhere. I am not aware that the segregation which we now
find of habitation brings about the development of special group
prejudices. Undoubtedly, if there are or were such prejudices
they would form the background of conflicts. It doesn't seem
to me to follow that the greater the isolation the greater
the prejudice.

There never is complete justice; but if a minority may not
expect justice at the hands of an overwhelming majority it can
expect no justice at all. The justice, if it comes at all, will
be at the hands of an overwhelming majority. Theoretically, in
this country all are entitled to justice. I know no reason why
this should not be true in a practical sense. Furthermore, I
see no reason why a minority may not only expect but demand,
at the hands of an overwhelming majority, justice. It seems
to me that if the overwhelming majority hoped to prosper, it
would see to it that justice was dispensed to the minority.
I do not find myself ready to place the Negro on an equal
basis with the white in every respect, that is, socially and
otherwise. I do not regard the failure to so place the Negroes
as injustice to them.

L--

In general, I like the Negro, but I lament his presence in
this country in large numbers. I have never heard a solution of
the Negro problem. Their distinguishing traits are ignorance,
good nature, mental weakness, and physical strength.

I have never heard of good arguments for extensive isolation.

M--

I have a strong prejudice, but it is undefined. For instance,
the hair of Negroes always holds a peculiar fascination, but
under no consideration could I touch it, but there was always
a great curiosity about it. I was undecided whether or not I
should shake hands or in any way touch a colored skin, but I
am quite sure I would never do it from choice. The everyday
contacts on street cars are the only personal experiences I
have had. The fascination of watching them is constant.

When I was about two years old a family moved into the village
bringing with them an old colored nurse. She was too old to
work, and my childish remembrance is that she always sat in
the corner near the fireplace with a pipe in her mouth. I did
not know that the Negro could do anything else.

When I was about five years old a Negro came to the village
and opened a barber shop. I remember my father telling mother
about the Negro and how he took the three small children down
to see "Snowball" as a matter of curiosity. My reaction was
that the Negro was not a person such as I was accustomed to
seeing, although there was no feeling of classing him as an
animal.

The third contact came when I was half-grown. My father was
prominent in politics and on election day the table was kept
set so that anyone sent from the polls could have a meal.
By some chance a Negro was sent and ate. After he had gone I
remember seeing my mother take the plate and other dishes out
in the yard and scour them with brick dust, evidently with an
idea that something had rubbed off.

My information is largely taken from the books of Booker T.
Washington. I admired Dunbar's poems when they were current in
the newspapers and magazines. I have not seen any of them for
many years but remember vividly, "When the Bread Won't Raise."
I was naturally familiar with _Uncle Tom's Cabin_, both as a
book and a play in Civil War days. I do not consciously seek
for information on the subject of Negroes and do not personally
know any Negroes. Outside of the names which appear in the
press I do not know of any Negro leaders and could not be sure
of correct information as to those who are well known.

I have never seen a Negro periodical and have so rarely heard
Negroes discussed that no conclusions can be given. The Negro
is rarely a topic of conversation in my circle.

As a solution they might be nationalized if possible, somewhere
and somehow, like the Japs. Liberia is a failure largely
because of white leadership and policy. Some portion of the
earth should be set aside where the Negroes can be a nation,
perhaps in Africa. They have a right to work out their own
problems in their own ways.

All Negroes should be educated as highly as possible. They have
a right to it because they are Americans. If demands follow
this education, it is right they should be granted.

There is no personal fear of Negroes as a basis of my prejudice.

I agree with the third proposition as to isolation.

Majority's injustice to minority is always true in politics,
religion, everyday dealings. Is not peculiar to relations
between white and colored.

N--

My views are more impressions than opinions. I have a distinct
aversion to close association with Negroes generally. On the
other hand I have a distinct liking for particular Negroes
whom I have been thrown with. Aside from the more educated
ones, they seem to me to be of a sluggish mentality and of
somewhat low moral character. They seem to have more of the
animal in them. I am not sure that this is not an impression
rather than an opinion.

I have no basis for my views except my own experience and what
I have read in papers and periodicals.

I had two Negro classmates in college; I saw a good deal of
Negroes as a boy; and I have known Negroes, some well educated,
since I came to Chicago from the law school.

Although my contacts were largely casual, I particularly
remember one very old Negro man whom I regarded as a sort
of patriarch and of whom I was a little bit afraid. Then I
recall vividly my impression of the filth and sordidness of
"darky-town" in the small city in which I lived as a boy. I
was never forbidden, so far as I can remember, to associate
with Negroes. In public school there was no separation of the
races. As a small boy, it seems to me my playmates in school
were partly Negroes. Of course the Negroes, as is usual, lived
in a separate part of the city. I should say that this seemed
to me then to be a natural and necessary arrangement. Negroes
were black and we were white. That was about all there was to
it.

Very early I became race conscious, I should say along about
the fourth or fifth grade in school, perhaps even before.

I regard as authorities on the question teachers or officers
of Fisk University, Tuskegee Institute, those who have to do
with criminals; employers of Negroes; persons who have dealt
with Negroes as a class as well as individually. Booker T.
Washington's writings should be an authority.

I have made very few inquiries for information. I know few
Negroes in Chicago. Those that I do know are of the better
educated type. Some of them, I think, have been at Fisk
University. I do not know the leaders in the city, nor do I
know the leaders in the country; but I should say they are
the heads of the great Negro universities and colleges, like
Fisk, Tuskegee, Lincoln Institute. Booker Washington was, of
course, a leader. I do not know who his successors are.

So far as I know, I have seen only one Negro periodical, some
years ago. The article I read in it I happened to be interested
in because I was dealing with the subject of it, and it was
undoubtedly a prejudiced article founded on misinformation and
a rather wilful disregard of facts. As I recall the paper as
a whole its main motive and purpose was an apparent hatred of
the white race. I realize that this is not enough to base an
opinion on.

The discussion of labor, politics, especially questions
connected with southern politics, almost any question relating
to the South, education, home missions, living conditions,
the servant problem, crime, most frequently lead to the Negro.

It would hardly be feasible to send Negroes out of the country
as a whole; they are needed in the industrial world, and it
would not be a Christian act to deport them. Nor does it seem
right or practicable or just to segregate them entirely. They
need education and the help that comes from association with
those who are further along in the polite amenities. On the
other hand, unless they are somewhat segregated racial troubles
are sure to arise when a Negro tries to settle, say, in the
same block with upper class whites. I am not sure that it might
not be a good plan if one or two of the southern states could
be turned over to the Negroes, but if this is done they should
be allowed to govern themselves and should be protected from
exploitation from unscrupulous whites.

It seems to me that race prejudice is not based principally
on fear, but rather on a natural aversion or shrinking from a
man of another color. It is almost as elemental as fear. We
fear any uneducated, ignorant and brutal man, whether he be
white, red, black or yellow. We have an aversion, as I have
said, to close association with any man of another color, even
though he be educated. I do not know whether this aversion is
curable by any method or not.

I am inclined to agree with the third proposition, and I
suppose the fourth proposition is regrettably true.

The outstanding feature in the answers to the queries: "Have you formed definite opinions about Negroes?" and "Do Negroes, in your opinion, possess distinguishing traits of mentality or character?" is the great variation in opinions. As a race they are "shiftless," "childish," "docile," "evolutionarily handicapped," "undependable," "some of them good," "they have as a mass a lower level of inherent capacity," "disliked in the mass," "liked as individuals," "entitled to the same leniency and consideration as whites," "entitled to the same rights as whites," "lacking in racial pride," "loyal," "imitative," "affectionate," "improvident."

The feelings toward Negroes are as varied. There is aversion to close association, a distinct dislike, a desire that Negroes should have equal rights and privileges, a desire that they should have the same rights, a feeling that Negroes have been mistreated and exploited, a feeling that selfishness and pride of white persons have caused the present racial situation, and a conviction that present behavior toward the Negro is faulty and wrong. Lincoln is twice mentioned but with different meanings. The trend of sentiment, while unfavorable toward Negroes, maintains some sort of ideal. Although childish, they "must be trained," "although we dislike their presence, we must submit to our penalty for years to come," etc. Some are not sure of their opinions. Some call them impressions or regret a lack of knowledge. A general summing up would show a desire to be fair in spite of unfavorable opinions.

The questions regarding the disposition they would make of Negroes if they could entirely control the situation were put to get views uninfluenced by considerations of present practicability. The play of circumstances, opinion, ethical considerations, and difficulties were excluded from consideration. The trend of replies was toward segregation, even to the extent of colonization in Africa. There were curious anomalies, like segregation without Jim Crow and segregation for the Negro's own happiness. Others would distribute them without boundaries throughout the social system. When segregation is generally mentioned it is conditioned on the consent of Negroes.

Interesting answers are made on propositions (_a_), (_b_), (_c_), and (_d_), covering education, prejudice, isolation, and justice. In spite of unforeseen danger, it is pretty generally agreed that Negroes should be educated, even though their demands are thus increased. There is less agreement on granting demands. The analysis of prejudice brought a wide variety of opinions. Repulsion, natural aversion, social equality and the sex complex, selfishness of whites, egotism and inborn dislike, as well as fear, are accredited as forming the basis of prejudice.

The problem of isolation was essentially a problem of segregation. Strange to say, although the trend of some was toward isolation, there was a majority belief that isolation would increase conflict and friction. The ethical problem developed in general the opinion that there does exist a disparity between what is and what should be.

The unwisdom of an unjust course of social conduct is recognized, but is for the most part held to be warranted by the peculiar difficulty of present relations. Here, probably as nowhere else, the problem was compared with other general problems not involving race.

The experiences on which opinions are based divide into definite classes:

1. Experiences in the South.

2. Experiences with individual Negro servants.

3. Experiences with individual Negroes of intelligence.

4. General observation.

The actual basis of opinions as stated by the persons themselves provides an interesting question.

The question concerning early childhood experiences was put to draw out, if possible, impressions unconsciously insinuated or consciously obtained but perhaps discounted and forgotten through subsequent years of intermittent relations. It was successful in bringing to light incidents of striking significance. The answers, indeed, show striking elements in the heritage of racial consciousness. Impressions gained in early life require many facts to unsettle or remove.

Most important in considering the trustworthiness of information sources are the replies to the question: "Whom of your friends, acquaintances, favorite authors, scholars, etc., do you regard best fitted to speak with authority on the question?" There are mentioned seven Negroes and ten white persons. Of the four local Negroes mentioned, two might be regarded as well informed; one has been out of public life for fifteen years, and the other, although by no means an authority, probably could provide interesting information. Of the Negro national figures, Washington, Du Bois, and Dunbar are mentioned, Washington three times, Dunbar and Du Bois once. Booker T. Washington died in 1915. Paul Laurence Dunbar, the poet, died in 1906. Practically all of the white persons mentioned have been at some time connected with movements to improve conditions among Negroes. George W. Cable wrote for the most part stories of the Creole South.

It is strange, though, that in answering the question, "Who are the Negro leaders?" so many gave the names of politicians, who are not the real leaders of Negroes. About half of those who answered had never read a Negro periodical, and half of those who had read them considered their influence pernicious.

V. PUBLIC OPINION AS EXPRESSED BY NEGROES

The practice of "keeping the Negro in his place" or any modification of it in northern communities has isolated Negroes from all other members of the community. Though in the midst of an advanced social system and surrounded by cultural influences, they have hardly been more than exposed to them. Of full and free participation they know little. The pressure of the dominant white group in practically every ordinary experience has kept the attention and interests of Negroes centered upon themselves, and made them race conscious. Their thinking on general questions is controlled by their race interests. The opinions of Negroes, therefore, are in large measure a negative product.

It is probably for this reason that most of their expressions of opinion take the form of protest. This same enforced self-interest warps these opinions, giving exaggerated values to the unconsidered views of the larger group, increasing sensitiveness to slights, and keeping Negroes forever on the defensive. Extreme expressions, unintelligible to those outside the Negro group, are a natural result of this isolation. The processes of thought by which these opinions are reached are, by virtue of this very isolation, concealed from outsiders. Negroes by their words alone may often be judged as radical, pernicious, or fanatic. Without the background of their experiences it is no more possible for their views to be completely understood than for Negroes to understand the confessed prejudices of white persons, or even their ordinary feelings toward Negroes.

Negroes know more of the habits of action and thought of the white group than white people know of similar habits in the Negro group. For Negroes read the whites' books and papers, hear them talk, and sometimes see them in the intimacy of their homes. But this one-sided and partial understanding serves only to make the behavior of the whites more keenly felt. Until these differences, long held as taboo, are thoroughly understood and calmly faced, there is small chance of satisfactory relations.

The opinions of Negroes on this question are as various as the white opinions of the Negro. Their response may reflect, the sentiment of the larger group; it may take a conciliatory turn, or, it may be exclusively self-centered in disregard, if indeed not in defiance, of the white group. The rapid growth of the Garvey movement[80] is a good example of this last type of opinion. There is harmony of opinion on ultimates, but on programs, processes, and methods there are differences among Negroes that reach the intensity of abusive conflicts.

No Negro is willing to admit that he belongs to a different and lower species, or that his race is constitutionally weak in character. All Negroes hope for an adjustment by virtue of which they will be freely granted the privileges of ordinary citizens. They are conscious, however, of an opposition in the traditions of the country and actually meet it daily. Conflict arises from opinions as to methods of combating and overcoming the opposition with the greatest gain and smallest loss to themselves.

Thus we come to hear of different schools of thought among Negroes. Booker T. Washington is contrasted with W. E. B. Du Bois, and Du Bois is contrasted with Owen, Peyton, and Colson, and they, in turn are contrasted with Garvey. Among individual Negroes opinion is determined by experience as well as tradition. The Negro house-servant does not feel toward white persons as does a Negro common laborer. The independent professional man holds an opinion essentially different from the social worker. Yet they are all governed by those trends of sentiment protective of the Negro group, and in crises either act upon them or suffer the group's censure.

An instance of the strength of Negro group opinion appeared in a tragic by-product of the Chicago riot. A Negro prominent in local political and social circles was sought out as a leader, and asked for an interview by a reporter of the _Chicago Tribune_ during the riot. In the published interview he was reported as saying: "This is a white man's country, and Negroes had better behave or they will get what rights they have taken away." This aroused a solid Negro sentiment against him; his life was threatened; for several weeks he had to have police protection; he was finally ostracized; and in less than a year he died. His friends asserted that he was slanderously misquoted, and that his death was due largely to the resulting criticism.

The more balanced opinions may be found among Negroes who have developed a defensive philosophy. Race pride and racial solidarity have sprung from this necessity. The term radical is used to characterize Negroes whose views and preachments are in advocacy of changes which to the general white public appear undesirable. It will be observed that most of the so-called radicals are southern Negroes now living in the North. They know by experience the meaning of oppression. Contrasts with them are sharper and the desire for change is more insistent, because they can appreciate differences.

Frequently this "radicalism" is no more than a matter of interpretation by white persons and possibly an oversuspicion. For example, Attorney-General A. Mitchell Palmer, in his report on the investigations of his department, referred to the bitter protests of Negro publications against lynching and disfranchisement as radical and incendiary documents. This report is headed, "Radicalism and Sedition among the Negroes as Reflected in Their Publications." It reads in part as follows:

There can no longer be any question of a well-concerted movement
among a certain class of Negro leaders of thought and action
to constitute themselves a determined and persistent source of
a radical opposition to the government, and to the established
rule of law and order.

Among the more salient points to be noted in the present
attitude of the Negro leaders are, first, the ill-governed
reaction toward race rioting; second, the threat of retaliatory
measures in connection with lynching; third, the more openly
expressed demand for social equality, in which demand the sex
problem is not infrequently included; fourth, the identification
of the Negro with such radical organizations as the I.W.W. and
an outspoken advocacy of the Bolsheviki or Soviet doctrines;
fifth, the political stand assumed toward the present federal
administration, the South in general, and incidentally, toward
the peace treaty and the League of Nations. Underlying these
more salient viewpoints is the increasingly emphasized feeling
of a race consciousness in many of these publications always
antagonistic to the white race and openly, defiantly assertive
of its own equality and even superiority. When it is borne in
mind that this boast finds its most frequent expression in the
pages of those journals whose editors are men of education, and
in at least one instance, by men holding degrees conferred by
Harvard University, it may be seen that the boast is not to be
dismissed lightly as the ignorant vaporing of untrained minds.
Neither is the influence of the Negro press in general to be
reckoned with lightly. The _Negro World_ for October 18, 1919,
states that "there are a dozen Negro papers with a circulation
of over 20,000, and scores with smaller circulation. There
are half a dozen magazines with a large circulation and other
magazines with a smaller circulation, and there are easily over
fifty writers who can write interesting editorials and special
articles, written in fine, pure English, with a background of
scholarship behind them." Notwithstanding the clumsiness of
expression of this particular assertion, the claim is not an
idle one. It may be added that in several instances the Negro
magazines are expensive in manufacture, being on coated paper
throughout, well-printed, and giving evidence of the possession
of ample funds.

In all the discussions of the recent race riots there is
reflected the note of pride that the Negro has found himself,
that he has "fought back," that never again will he tamely
submit to violence or intimidation. The sense of oppression
finds increasingly bitter expression. Defiance and insolently
race-centered condemnation of the white race is to be met with
in every issue of the more radical publications, and this one
in moderateness of denunciation carries its own threat. The
Negro is "seeing red," and it is the prime object of the leading
publications to induce a like quality of vision upon the part
of their readers. A few of them deny this, notwithstanding
the evidence of their work. Others of them openly admit the
fact. The number of restrained and conservative publications
is relatively negligible, and even some of these ... have
indulged in most intemperate utterance, though it would be
unfair not to state that certain papers--I can think of no
magazines--maintain an attitude of well-balanced sanity....

The _Messenger_ for October is significant for one thing above
all others. In it for the first time a Negro publication comes
out openly for sex equality.[81]

It is the sentiment briefly sketched in the foregoing pages that summons attention. What are Negroes actually thinking? How are they being affected by what the general public is thinking? What do they want? Against what are their protests directed? What kinds of group sentiments are being developed and how significant are they as to subsequent relations between the two groups?

This report merely sets out examples of those views in the hope of showing the beliefs that control the conduct of Negroes in Chicago.

1. RACE PROBLEMS

_Criticism of Negro leaders._--A Negro attorney said:

I have read numerous articles written by prominent colored
men on the subject of Negroes moving North, and I have heard
many of them speak. But few of them, in my opinion, will
bear rigid criticism. They are wanting in genuine expression
of true conditions. Those writers and orators who have some
personal motive for their expression do not necessarily speak
with absolute frankness.

A Negro worker said:

Our leaders are not interested enough in the welfare of the
race. As soon as they reach some little place of fame they
try to get off to themselves.

_Contacts as basis for respect._--A Negro professional man said:

When in school in Oberlin my professor in debating and oratory
was so prejudiced that he would not let the other colored
boy and me be on teams together. We asked him repeatedly,
but he always refused. We decided to work on a debate for all
there was in it and compel him to recognize the fact that we
could measure up to the other members of the class. When we
finished he praised our work in the highest terms. After that
he began to take an interest in me and finally told me that he
did not know anything about Negroes and just felt that there
was nothing worth while in them. He tried to persuade me to
teach, and when I left he gave me one of the best letters of
recommendation that I have ever seen. That shows what contact
can do.

_Not a race problem._--A Negro business man said:

There is no race problem; if the white people would only do as
they would be done by we would not have need of commissions
to better conditions. This won't be done, but an easier plan
is to enforce the law. The laws are good enough but they are
not enforced. Riots grow out of hate, jealousy, envy, and
prejudice. When a man becomes a contented citizen there will
be little chance of causing him to fight anyone. Give us those
things that are due us--law, protection, and equal rights--then
we will become contented citizens.

_For better race relations in Chicago._--A Negro alderman said:

1. Pass a vagrancy law that will take the idle, shiftless and
intolerant hoodlum off the streets. Put the burden of proof
on the one so arrested.

2. Close all vicious poolrooms and dens of vice, and permit
no boy under nineteen years of age to enter poolrooms.

3. Forbid loitering on the street corners, especially transfer
points.

4. Prohibit vicious and race-antagonizing campaign speeches
on the streets of the city and in public halls. Races must
not be arrayed against each other.

5. Make more rigid the habeas corpus act, tighten up on the
parole and probation laws and enforcement of the truancy law.

6. Stop the newspapers from referring to the territory occupied
by the colored people as the "Black Belt."

7. Inciting and inflammatory headlines in the newspapers must
be stopped.

8. Open the gates of employment to all races in our public
utilities, such as street-car and elevated-road service,
Chicago Telephone Co. exchanges, Peoples Gas Light & Coke Co.,
and the Commonwealth Edison Co.

9. Better housing for the colored people and improvement
of the district in which a vast majority of them reside by
turning certain streets into boulevards, building small parks
and playgrounds, and let the city or South Park Commissioners
build a bathing-beach equal to any other for the benefit and
comfort of all races along the water front, between Twenty-ninth
and Thirty-ninth streets. This without lines or thought of
segregation and for the benefit of a neglected part of our
tax-paying community.

10. Apprehend and convict the bomb throwers by placing in
command of our police-stations officers who will do their
duty and place patrolmen on duty who will not sympathize with
this lawless element of our citizenry. Greater still, insist
that the state's attorney do his full duty in prosecuting the
people who are responsible for inciting these criminal acts.

11. Safeguard the rights of all races in our public parks and
on the public highways.

12. Give us a man's chance in the field of labor, and we will
prove that we are no burden to any other race of people.

2. THE EMOTIONAL BACKGROUND

_An old settler._--The sentiment presented below is probably the unpolished feeling of a Negro who was born in Chicago before the fire of 1871, and has lived here since. His grandfather owned the property where the post-office now stands. He was at one time a member of the Central Y.M.C.A. (white). For two and a half years he was assistant bookkeeper in a white bank in Memphis, Tennessee. He said:

Prejudice has been on the increase in Chicago since 1893.
Southerners came to the World's Exposition and many of them
remained. They brought their prejudices with them. On the cars
they would order colored people to get up and give their seats
to them. This resulted in fights, and when the cases were
taken to court colored people won as many cases as whites. I
took my grandmother to the fair and on the street car I had an
altercation with a white southerner who called her "Auntie."
He tried to hit me, and I got out my gun to shoot him. A
Columbian guard and detective grabbed me. When the case was
called I was discharged.

Hyde Park is a nest of prejudice. These southerners moved out
there. Southern clubs are established throughout the country.
They get northernized and want straight-haired mulatto maids
for their mistresses and call them typists. The southern white
boys get jobs on newspapers in the North and work for nothing
in order that they may write articles and editorials against
Negroes and spread the doctrine of the South.

A good many years ago colored people lived in good homes and
the Irish lived in shanties. They used to call them "flannel
mouth," "mick," and "shanty Irish." It used to be that only
colored men of light complexion could secure jobs as porters
on certain railroads. In 1908 the Archbishop of the Diocese of
the Catholic Church issued an edict that white communicants
should not worship at the Thirty-sixth and Dearborn streets
church. The whites still go there, however. The very fact that
the G.A.R. invited the Confederate veterans to march in the
same parade on Memorial Day goes to show that prejudice against
Negroes is increasing. They are combining. These southern
societies in Chicago which foster race prejudice should be
exposed.

_Abyssinians._--During the summer of 1920 a group of self-styled "Abyssinians," in a spectacular demonstration,[82] killed two white men and seriously wounded two Negroes, one of whom was a policeman. Neither whites nor Negroes could give any further explanation of the affair than that it was an ignorant outburst of fanatics. Although the demonstration was announced as part of a membership drive in a "Back to Africa Movement," there was a definite racial sentiment in the appeals to unlettered Negroes. This sentiment was calculated to solidify the fanatic group, while, at the same time, by its anti-social dogma, it placed this group in opposition to the safety and well-being of the community. Meetings and speeches and anti-racial dogma, founded upon unusual interpretations of the Bible, gave their sentiments a religious fervor and a racial aim. Thus these sentiments grew, uncorrected by outsiders, and finally expressed themselves in criminal but significant conduct. The significance of these sentiments is apparent in the attitude of a sympathizer with the movement, expressed to one of the Commission's investigators several weeks before the outbreak made the movement unpopular. He is a shopkeeper, and most of his trade is among Negroes. His business with whites is wholly with wholesale dealers. In his treatment of those who came into his store during the interview he was rude and discourteous. He said:

I am a radical. I despise and hate the white man. They will
always be against the Ethiopian. I do not want to be called
Negro, colored, or "nigger." Either term is an insult to me
or to you. Our rightful name is Ethiopian. White men stole
the black man from Africa and counseled with each other as to
what to do with him and what to call him, for when the Negro
learned that he was the first civilized human on earth he
would rise up and rebel against the white man. To keep him
from doing this it was decided to call him Negro after the
Niger River in Africa. This was to keep him from having that
knowledge by the Bible, for his right name was Ethiopian.
This was done so we could always be ruled by the white man. I
will call your attention to the Bible. There is not one word
of evil against the Children of Israel and Ethiopia written
in it. Ethiopia came out of Israel and God said they are his
people and he will be their God. He also says after the 300
years of punishment he will never go by [desert] Israel again
and will be with him for ever and ever. We find by the Bible
that he, the Ethiopian, is the only child of God.

The three hundred years of punishment are up, and this is the
year of deliverance. It started in 1619 when we were stolen from
Africa and made slaves. God is taking care of the black man.
Some great destruction will take place, but God's chosen people
will be all right. White passers-by from other neighborhoods are
the only people who trouble us. They will call you insulting
names or try to annoy you in a hundred little ways. The white
people in the neighborhood are all right. Two white men ran
down an old pet rooster of mine this morning. They were on a
motor-cycle and picked him up, carried him off, paying no heed
to me, as I ran two blocks after them.

_Ready for trouble._--A Negro ex-soldier said:

I went to war, served eight months in France; I was married,
but I didn't claim exemption. I wanted to go, but I might as
well have stayed here for all the good it has done me.... No,
that ain't so, I'm glad I went. I done my part and I'm going
to fight right here till Uncle Sam does his. I can shoot as
good as the next one, and nobody better start anything. I ain't
looking for trouble, but if it comes my way I ain't dodging.

_Agitation and discussion._--A Negro lawyer said:

Agitation by the press, both white and colored, does nothing
but create dissension. The religious and political leaders have
gone from one extreme to the other. Formerly the Negroes were
cringing and ingratiating when dealing with the whites. Now
they are trying to be radical in order to gain notoriety. There
is nothing to be gained in either being servile or radical.
I have had indignities heaped upon me by the white man. Why,
my mother was ill when a white man in Georgia took every bit
of our furniture from us, pulling the bed from under her. She
screamed with pain each time they moved the bed, but they left
her on the floor. I swore that I would kill that man and for
many years held hatred against him. Now I know it is wrong
and only hope that he has learned better.

_A Negro and a mob._--How does a Negro feel when he is being hunted or chased by a mob? Few persons are able to analyze their emotions under such stress. It happens, however, that a Negro university student fell victim to the sportive brutality of a gang of white men in a clash in September, 1920, and after being chased and hunted for five hours and a half in an unfriendly neighborhood escaped uninjured. He recounted his experience in an effort at a purely objective study of his emotions.

While at work in a plant just outside Chicago he became ill and was forced to leave early. Unaware that a riot was in progress, he left a street car to transfer in a hostile neighborhood. As he neared the corner one of a group of about twenty young white men yelled: "There's a nigger! Let's get him!" He boarded a car to escape them. They pulled off the trolley and started into the car after him. His story follows:

The motorman opened the door, and before they knew it I jumped
out and ran up Fifty-first Street as fast as my feet could
carry me. Gaining about thirty yards on them was a decided
advantage, for one of them saw me and with the shout "There he
goes!" the gang started after me. One, two, three, blocks went
past in rapid succession. They came on shouting, "Stop him!
Stop him!" I ran on the sidewalk and someone tried to trip me,
but fortunately I anticipated his intentions and jumped into
the road. As I neared the next street intersection, a husky,
fair-haired fellow weighing about 180 pounds came lunging at
me. I have never thought so quickly in all my life as then, I
believe. Three things flashed into my mind--to stop suddenly
and let him pass me and then go on; to try to trip him by
dropping in front of him; or to keep running and give him a
good football straight arm. The first two I figured would stop
me, and the gang would be that much nearer, so I decided to
rely on the last. These thoughts flashed through my mind as
I ran about ten steps. As we came together, I left my feet,
and putting all my weight and strength into a lunge, shot my
right hand at his chin. It landed squarely and by a half-turn
the fair-haired would-be tackler went flying to the road on
his face.

That was some satisfaction, but it took a lot of my strength,
for by this time I was beginning to feel weak. But determination
kept me at it, and I ran on. Then I came to a corner where a
drug-store was open and a woman standing outside. I slowed
down and asked her to let me go in there, that a gang was
chasing me; but she said I would not be safe there, so I turned
off Fifty-first Street and ran down the side street. Here
the road had been freshly oiled and I nearly took a "header"
as I stepped in the first pool, but fortunately no accident
happened. My strength was fast failing; the suggestion came
into my mind to stop and give up or try to fight it out with
the two or three who were still chasing me, but this would
never do, as the odds were too great, so I kept on. My legs
began to wobble, my breath came harder, and my heart seemed to
be pounding like a big pump, while the man nearest me began
to creep up on me. It was then that an old athletic maxim
came into my mind--"He's feeling as tired as you." Besides,
I thought, perhaps he smokes and boozes and his wind is worse
than mine. Often in the last hundred yards of a quarter-mile
that thought of my opponent's condition had brought forth the
last efforts necessary for the final spurt. There was more than
a medal at stake this time, so I stuck, and in a few strides
more they gave up the chase. One block further on, when I
had made sure that no one was following me on the other side
of the street, I slowed down to walk and regained my breath.
Soon I found myself on Forty-sixth Street just west of Halsted
where the street is blind, so I climbed up on the railroad
tracks and walked along them. But I imagined that in crossing
a lighted street I could be seen from below and got down off
the tracks, intending to cross a field and take a chance on
the street. But this had to be abandoned, for as I looked over
the prospect from the shadow of a fence I saw an automobile
held up at the point of a revolver in the hands of one member
of a gang while they searched the car apparently looking for
colored men.

This is no place for a minister's son, I thought, and crept
back behind a fence and lay down among some weeds. Lying there
as quietly as could be I reflected on how close I had come to
a severe beating or the possible loss of my life. Fear, which
had caused me to run, now gave place to anger, and a desire
to fight, if I could fight with a square deal. I remembered
that as I looked the gang over at Fifty-first and Ashland
I figured I could handle any of them individually with the
possible exception of two, but the whole gang of blood-thirsty
hoodlums was too much. Anger gave place to hatred and a desire
for revenge, and I thought if ever I caught a green-buttoned
"Ragen's Colt" on the South Side east of State that one of
us would get a licking. But reason showed me such would be
folly and would only lead to reprisals and some other innocent
individual getting a licking on my account. I knew all "Ragen's"
were not rowdies, for I had met some who were pretty decent
fellows, but some others--ye gods!

My problem was to get home and to avoid meeting hostile
elements. Temporarily I was safe in hiding, but I could not
stay there after daybreak. So I decided to wait a couple of
hours and then try to pass through "No Man's Land"--Halsted to
Wentworth. I figured the time to be about 11:30 and so decided
to wait until 1:30 or 2:00 A.M., before coming out of cover.
Shots rang out intermittently; the sky became illumined; the
fire bells rang, and I imagined riot and arson held sway as of
the previous year. It is remarkable how the imagination runs
wild under such conditions.

Then the injustice of the whole thing overwhelmed me--emotions
ran riot. Had the ten months I spent in France been all in
vain? Were those little white crosses over the dead bodies of
those dark-skinned boys lying in Flanders fields for naught? Was
democracy merely a hollow sentiment? What had I done to deserve
such treatment? I lay there experiencing all the emotions I
imagined the innocent victim of a southern mob must feel when
being hunted for some supposed crime. Was this what I had
given up my Canadian citizenship for, to become an American
citizen and soldier? Was the risk of life in a country where
such hatred existed worth while? Must a Negro always suffer
merely because of the color of his skin? "There's a Nigger;
let's get him!" Those words rang in my ears--I shall never
forget them.

Psychologists claim that it is in the face of overwhelming
forces that man is prone to turn to the Supreme Being. I was
no longer afraid, only filled with righteous indignation and
a desire to get out of danger. But mingled emotions shook me,
and a flood of tears burst forth. In the midst of it I found
myself praying fervently to God against the injustice of it
all, for strength and help to go through safely, and thanks for
my deliverance from the gang which had chased me. Then relief
came from all these pent-up feelings with the determination
to get up and try to go through--and to fight, if necessary.
I began to speculate on means. A freight train came along, and
the impulse came to jump on it and ride out of town until the
trouble was over, but the knowledge of only 15 cents carfare
in my pocket compelled the rejection of this idea. I thought
of phoning to a friend to come and get me in his car, but
this was futile, for where could I find a phone and be safe
in that neighborhood? Some clothes on a line in a yard across
the field offered a disguise, but even dressed as a woman I'd
need a hat, and that idea had to be abandoned. With resources
at an end, I picked up four rocks for ammunition and started
out.

For four blocks I glided from shadow to shadow, through alleys.
A couple of dogs nearly "spilled the beans" when they barked
just as an automobile came down the street. I dove for cover
until the car had disappeared and then emerged. At Forty-ninth
Street and Union Avenue I climbed up on the railroad tracks
and cautiously walked along them in the darkness. All of a
sudden a block ahead appeared what seemed to be about ten men
standing on the tracks, so I dropped to the ground and made a
pair of binoculars out of my hands. For what seemed like five
minutes I watched these forms then decided they were uprights
on a bridge and went on. Imagination and fear can play tricks,
and this was one of them.

Finally I found myself at Thirty-seventh and Stewart streets,
having been walking northeast instead of east as I thought.
I climbed down to the street and walked through back lanes
until I saw the Sox ball park. All was quiet, so I came out
and crossed Wentworth Avenue. At State and Thirty-seventh
I saw two colored fellows waiting for a car and ran up to
them. Putting my hands on their shoulders I said, "Gee! I'm
glad to see a dark skin." Then I related my experience. They
assured me the "fun" was all over, and I was thankful. It was
twenty-five minutes to four, just five and a half hours after
I had started for home from work. A white man came along,
and my first impulse was to jump on him and beat him up. But
again reason told me he was not responsible for the actions of
a gang of rowdies, and he was as innocent as I had been when
set upon.

Is such an experience easily forgotten? Recent events would
prove to the contrary. I vowed that morning never to let
the sun set on me west of Wentworth Avenue, and never to go
into that section unprotected, even in daytime. On a recent
Sunday the papers came out with an "Extra" about 11:00 P.M.,
announcing a "Big South Side Fight." I went to the door and
hailed a boy. Just then an automobile with men standing on
the running-board came around the corner. The possibility
of another riot flashed through my mind and without looking
at the paper I snapped off the light, closed the door, and
prepared for trouble if it came my way. But the "Fight" had
been a gunman's war. This is just indicative of the caution
such an experience develops. It is not a fear, but a wariness
in uncertainty.

3. DEFENSIVE POLICIES

To stimulate group morale and solidify the sentiments of Negroes for unified opposition to what they regard as oppressive measures of white people, many tactics are employed. The most common of these is that of interpreting the aims and ambitions of Negroes to white persons and of defending themselves generally against criticism. A selection of types of this "defensive" sentiment is given.

A Negro attorney said:

The only way to gain favorable public opinion is to create
favorable press notices. A certain amount of agitation is
necessary on the part of colored papers to educate the race
as to what it is entitled to. The American white race has been
very successful in its propaganda that colored people are not
entitled to certain things. This has caused many Negroes to
believe that they are not as good as the white people.

The press can be a source of evil or of good. It depends upon
the point of view. The difficulty lies in the fact that the
white press has the wrong attitude, usually. A great deal of
harm is done by paid workers who will give interviews that
will sustain the viewpoint of the papers. Others desirous of
newspaper notoriety are guilty of the same offense. Usually
those interviewed are not capable of giving exact opinions and
viewpoints. Those capable of doing justice to the situation
are not sought by reporters. During the time when there is
more calm and people are in a position to give thoughtful
consideration to the question, no effort is made to find out
the attitude of substantial citizens. If this were done the
papers would get somewhere.

A letter from a Negro thanking the editor of a northern paper for a fair editorial said:

The colored citizens realize fully the extent to which
propaganda is spread against them in the average newspaper
under the guise of news, and when they find someone who knows
that too, and who is strong enough to help, as is the ----
[newspaper], they thank him with all the strength of their
hearts, although their lips may remain mute.

_Negro sentiment regarding racial news in the white press._--A Negro weekly paper said:

Whatever be the cause or the motive there is apparently a
well organized plan to discredit the race in America and to
bring estrangement between fellow Americans. A short-sighted
... press is contributing to this estrangement by playing
upon the passions of the undiscriminating and thoughtlessly
by its glaring and sensational headings, emphasizing rumours
of alleged crimes by Negroes.

_Flattery as a means of promoting tolerance._--A popular Negro orator said: