The Negro in Chicago: A Study of Race Relations and a Race Riot

by Chicago Commission on Race Relations

In summary it is scarcely necessary to remark that wages in the North far exceed those in the South. The difference in some instances is so great that many foolish expenditures are indulged in before the relatively higher cost of living is appreciated, or other conditions are properly understood. High wages, supplemented by income from other sources, often proved a temptation to unnecessarily heavy expenditures for material comforts, such as food and clothing. With relation to food it did not appear that Negroes were deliberately taken advantage of in their buying, but that they frequently bought articles without considering prices that had been refused by others because they were deemed excessive.

Insurance of one kind or another was often carried in the families studied. In spite of high living costs, a considerable number of families were found to have bank accounts, Liberty bonds, War Savings stamps, and good interest-paying investments.

The testimony of Negroes who at some time had lived in the South was mainly that they were obliged to work harder for what they got North. They also declared that they were unable to save as much as they hoped or expected, because of high prices. But in the great majority of cases satisfaction was expressed over the improvement in their economic situation. While their movements in search of better housing in Chicago were extremely frequent, they still felt that they were better housed than in their former homes, where bathtubs, steam heat, and electric lighting were almost unknown. Being accustomed to a certain measure of dilapidation in their home surroundings in the South, the Negro is not necessarily dismayed by the extent of dilapidation in Chicago's Negro housing, though usually it is not long before he begins to think of more substantial dwellings in better surroundings than those he first obtains.

Also in Chicago he finds available and accessible to his home many churches, some with large memberships and adequately housed; the best schools he has ever known; fine hospitals and dispensaries at his command; some playgrounds, bathing-beaches, parks, and similar facilities for his recreation and that of his children; settlement houses; libraries; and many other civic and recreational societies that make a strong appeal to his interest and promote his ambition for physical and mental development. He finds many motion-picture theaters and other amusements for his leisure hours.

Where the habit has not already been established, he is learning to make liberal use of all these facilities through the guidance and direction of Negro newspapers and organizations working especially for the improvement of the Negro group. There are indications of improvement in moral standards, health, and civic consciousness through these contacts and the use of these up-building social agencies.

The opinions of migrants and their feeling toward the community were solicited. It appeared that above all they prized the social and political freedom of the North. Satisfaction was expressed over the escape from "Jim Crow" treatment in the South. They valued the independence possible in the North, and sometimes spoke of having come North "out of bondage." They recalled frequently the "shameful treatment received by the Negroes from the white people in the South," the "intimidation and discrimination," and they were surprised and sometimes amazed at the fact that they could go and come at will in Chicago, that they could ride in the front of a street car and sit in any seat. Satisfaction was also expressed over the fact that they could get a job at good wages and did not have to buy groceries at plantation stores where they felt they had been exploited.

Thus, while they may have to work harder and may find it difficult for a long time to adjust themselves to the environment, few indicated any intention of returning to the South. In some instances, where adjustments have not been made, some discouragement was evidenced, and they sometimes expressed the feeling that they were no better off in Chicago than in their former homes. The prevailing sentiment, however, was in favor of remaining in spite of some greater difficulties.

Often Negroes from the South said they missed the care-free social greetings and relationships that prevail in the rural South. They thought that people in the North were "colder," that they did not show sufficient hospitality.

Asked what conditions they would change if they could have their way, the most frequently expressed desire was for more and better housing. Improvement of social, moral, or political conditions followed. Some emphasized the necessity of improving the management of the migrants from the South, whose new-found freedom had led them to become offensive in their conduct. Interviews with migrants, however, indicated that instruction was being received without offense from many social agencies on how to act, dress, and speak in such a manner as not to create unfavorable impressions.

There were some complaints of political exploitation and of being obliged to live in proximity to gambling and vice that were encouraged by political bosses in their neighborhoods.