Slavery -- United States; United States -- Politics and government -- 1861-1865; United States -- Race relations
I will close what I have to say of this part of the subject by
observations of Atlanta. When I settled here, the barbers, shoe repairers,
blacksmiths, band-musicians, sick-nurses, seamstresses, ostlers, and
carriage-drivers were, so far as I noted, black almost without exception.
Now the first five are nearly all white, and whites steadily multiply in
the rest, although they are far from being in a majority. The only
expulsion of white by negro labor that I have noted is the substitution by
the bicycle messenger service and the telegraph of negro for white
messengers, made not long ago. These messenger services thrive by
exploiting child labor. By the change mentioned they got much larger and
stronger boys--often grown-up ones--for the same price which they used to
pay white children a year or two older than mere tots. Against the recent
loss just told I have these two recent gains of the whites to tell. There
had always been only negro waiters in the restaurants. In some of them
the eaters at the lunch counters are now served by a white man standing
behind it; and what he needs, if it is not kept in store so near that he
can reach it, is brought to him, at his command, by a negro, whom you may
call his waiter. This negro also wipes off the counter. After we became
used to white barbers we generally preferred them to the black ones. And I
note that a growing majority of those who frequent the counters like the
white waiters, although I now and then hear a growler say that he would
rather have a waiter that he can reprimand and speak to as he pleases.
Some of the restaurants begin to advertise that their help is all white.
With the superior alertness and quickness of his race, a white behind the
counter accomplishes more than twice as much as the former black. To use a
common saying, the white waiters keep at active work all their twelve
hours as if they were fighting fire, while the negroes commanded by them
take things easy. Every one of the whites is constantly on the lookout for
a better place; and generally he manages somehow, after a short while, to
get it. One who now serves me studies bookkeeping two hours every night,
and will doubtless soon be giving satisfaction in his chosen occupation to
some business house. The negroes look out only for tips, are interested in
nothing but amusements, and never get any higher. Bear in mind, they are
considerably above the average negro in qualifications and station.
The other instance is that some co-operating Greek boys have recently
captured a very considerable proportion of the shoe-shining. They provide
more convenient and comfortable seats and give a better shine than the
negro does, in a much shorter time, and for the same price. It looks now
as if they are bound to make full conquest of the business. With my
experience it is more of a surprise to me to see clothes laundered,
tables waited on, and shoes shined by the whites, than even to see cotton
picked by them.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account