Following the color line : $b An account of Negro citizenship in the American democracy — John Shaqi
Following the color line : $b An account of Negro citizenship in the American democracy
History
Following the color line : $b An account of Negro citizenship in the American democracy
African Americans; United States -- Race relations
One of the points in which I was especially interested was the "Jim Crow"
regulations, that is, the system of separation of the races in street cars
and railroad trains. Next to the question of Negro suffrage, I think the
people of the North have heard more of the Jim Crow legislation than of
anything else connected with the Negro problem. The street car is an
excellent place for observing the points of human contact between the
races, betraying as it does every shade of feeling upon the part of both.
In almost no other relationship do the races come together, physically, on
anything like a common footing. In their homes and in ordinary employment,
they meet as master and servant; but in the street cars they touch as free
citizens, each paying for the right to ride, the white not in a place of
command, the Negro without an obligation of servitude. Street-car
relationships are, therefore, symbolic of the new conditions. A few years
ago the Negro came and went in the street cars in most cities and sat
where he pleased, but gradually Jim Crow laws or local regulations were
passed, forcing him into certain seats at the back of the car.
While I was in Atlanta, the newspapers reported two significant new
developments in the policy of separation. In Savannah Jim Crow ordinances
have gone into effect for the first time, causing violent protestations on
the part of the Negroes and a refusal by many of them to use the cars at
all. Montgomery, Ala., about the same time, went one step further and
demanded, not separate seats in the same car, but entirely separate cars
for whites and blacks. There could be no better visible evidence of the
increasing separation of the races, and of the determination of the white
man to make the Negro "keep his place," than the evolution of the Jim Crow
regulations.
I was curious to see how the system worked out in Atlanta. Over the door
of each car, I found this sign:
WHITE PEOPLE WILL SEAT FROM FRONT OF CAR TOWARD
THE BACK AND COLORED PEOPLE FROM REAR TOWARD FRONT
Sure enough, I found the white people in front and the Negroes behind. As
the sign indicates, there is no definite line of division between the
white seats and the black seats, as in many other Southern cities. This
very absence of a clear demarcation is significant of many relationships
in the South. The colour line is drawn, but neither race knows just where
it is. Indeed, it can hardly be definitely drawn in many relationships,
because it is constantly changing. This uncertainty is a fertile source of
friction and bitterness. The very first time I was on a car in Atlanta, I
saw the conductor--all conductors are white--ask a Negro woman to get up
and take a seat farther back in order to make a place for a white man. I
have also seen white men requested to leave the Negro section of the car.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account