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

by Chicago Commission on Race Relations

Mr. L—— was graduated from the Carbondale (Ill.) high school and the Southern Illinois State Normal School, while Mrs. L—— was graduated from Hyde Park High School and the Chicago Normal School. The latter is a music teacher. Before coming to Chicago, Mr. L—— was a school principal in Mounds, Illinois, and Mrs. L—— also was a teacher. They are northern people, the husband having been born in East St. Louis and the wife in Chicago. They have a daughter, three years of age, and have living with them a niece and nephew, six and five years old, as well as two adult women relatives.

Economic sufficiency.—As a railway mail clerk, Mr. L—— earns $125 a month. He owns a house and lot in Carbondale and carries insurance on his life and property. They spend $37.50 a month for rent, about $10 for miscellaneous items, $15 a week for food, $4 a month for gas, $1 for barber's services, and always $10 a month is added to the family's bank account.

Housing and neighborhood expenses.—In April, 1919, a flat building south of Sixty-third Street, previously occupied by white people, was opened to Negroes. The L—— family were the first of the Negroes to move in. A few white families wished to remain and lived in the same building with the Negroes. Mr. L—— says: "We objected, as they were not the kind of people we wanted to live with. My sister-in-law acted as agent of the building, and the condition of some of the flats was terrible. The owner was arrogant when the Negroes first came in, but he soon found that we would not be pleased with just anything. He told us he saw that we were particular and wanted things nice, and, said he, 'Seeing that you are that way, I'll do the best I can for you, as I believe you will take care of the flat.' The Negroes insisted on the laundry being cleaned and it is now being used."

The L—— family has had three stoves since moving in. After thoroughly renovating the building and making many of the repairs themselves, the sanitary conditions are good, and the owner makes no further objection to maintaining the good order of things.

The white people of the neighborhood objected to having the building occupied by Negroes. White boys of the neighborhood stoned the building, and its tenants were obliged to call upon the police for protection. This antagonism now seems to have disappeared. The white and Negro children play together amicably.

Community participation.—Mrs. L—— attends the First Presbyterian Church regularly and Mr. L—— is a member and secretary of the board of trustees of the A.M.E. Mission. He is a Mason and a member of the Woodlawn Community Organization, which has the betterment of the neighborhood as its aim. He plays tennis for recreation and goes to concerts and the movies for entertainment. The children in the family have made use of public playgrounds and libraries. Bathing-beaches have been sought occasionally, and contacts have been made with the St. Lawrence Mission, a neighborhood institution.

Opinions on race relations.—Mr. L—— thinks that agitation is of no assistance to the problem and draws attention to the fact that lack of agitation on the part of newspapers averted a riot in connection with one recent racial disturbance. "Housing is the greatest difficulty confronted by the migrant from the South." It is his opinion, further, that the Negroes are not understood, that the white people fear them until they become really acquainted with the Negroes. "Contact," he says, "is the only thing that will help to make conditions better. It is just a question of understanding each other."

A MULATTO

Mr. A—— was born in Chicago and his wife in Helena, Arkansas. He was educated in the Chicago public schools, and his wife attended Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and afterward the Chicago Musical College.

Mr. A—— is light in complexion and is frequently mistaken for a white man. Several years ago, without announcing his race, he obtained work in a label factory and remained for some time until it was discovered that he was not a white man, and therefore the only Negro in the establishment. The officials, being the first to learn his racial identity, decided to keep him as long as no objection came from the other white employees. In a few years he became superintendent of the factory, which position he held for eight years. He was treated as an equal by members of the firm, who visited him at his home and invited him to their club. He was also president of the company's outing club.