THE EFFECTS OF THE NEGRO MIGRATION ON THE NORTH
As the migration had its effects upon the South, it likewise
influenced conditions in the North and West; but in the latter cases
these effects were somewhat different from those produced upon the
former section. It is almost obvious that these two sections could
hardly escape without being affected, since they were suddenly invaded
by a multitude of newcomers who belonged to a race different from that
of the dominant elements in their respective populations. In these
places, moreover, these migrants were seeking for the most part better
opportunities in order to enhance their progress in the struggle for
existence, and in so doing created new situations which undoubtedly
had decided effects upon these sections.
The first noted effect was a tremendous increase in the Negro
population of some of the large cities and industrial centers of these
sections. It is estimated that this increase in some cases ranged from
one to four-fold. For example, the Negro population of Detroit,
Michigan, jumped from 5,751 to 41,532 by 1920. In 1917 Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, showed an increase of 47.1 per cent in its Negro
population. During the same decade Philadelphia added 49,632 to its
black population; and it is reported that 25,000 Negro migrants went
to Cincinnati, Ohio,[107] and 52,000 to Chicago, Illinois.[108] The
census of 1920 shows that the increase in the Negro population of
Cincinnati during the preceding decade was 9,987 and that of Chicago
65,491.
Notwithstanding this, these sections were certainly much gratified at
this influx of Negroes, because it was meeting the unprecedented
demand for labor. At this time the Negroes were sorely needed for
economic purposes, and nothing was done to obstruct their coming in.
That this was the case the following statement will show: "To-day the
shutting down of immigration, due to the war," said _The New
Republic_, "has created just such a demand for the Negroes. Colored
men who formerly loafed on street corners are now regularly employed.
Negro girls who found it once difficult to obtain good jobs at
domestic service have leaped into popularity. The market for labor has
taken up all the slack. There is a demand for all, for skilled
workers, unskilled, semi-employables, Negroes. The employment agencies
cannot meet the demand. Construction camps which formerly relied on
Italian or Polish laborers now seek to secure an alternative supply of
Negroes. Formerly the big contractor in the North could pick a few
hunkies from a long line of eager applicants for work. He could get
Poles, Italians, Greeks, in any number.... To-day he is willing to
take black men, and finds it hard to get even them."[109]
This most unusual demand for labor, coupled with the necessity of
having to be met wholly by thousands of Negroes from the South,
wrought a considerable change in the labor mores of the North. In its
employment of these laborers the North was compelled to adopt a policy
hitherto unknown. On this point let us proceed by referring to the
following testimony. "Until recently," said a contributor to _The
Living Age_, "the Negro in the northern cities was restricted to
certain occupations that are unskilled and outside the range of
organized labor. To-day he is being welcomed on the farms of New
England and the Middle West and in the industrial centers, where
hitherto the employer has not wanted him and the white workman has
regarded him as a dangerous intruder. In Chicago, Cincinnati,
Pittsburgh and many other cities large numbers of Negroes are found in
factories and workshops where until lately the Negro laborer was never
admitted even as a visitor. This is especially true of the iron and
steel works and the factories, while many thousands have been
absorbed by the railroads and street railway companies."[110]
While the North was very desirous of the Negro migrants in order to
utilize their labor, moreover, it was, nevertheless, ill-prepared to
provide them proper dwelling places. The rush of the Negro laborers to
this section suddenly overtaxed the capacity of the habitations
alloted to Negroes, thus causing a demand for houses which far
exceeded the supply. The result of this was the bringing on the hands
of the North a serious housing problem which required immediate
solution. The railroads were the first to attempt to meet the
situation by adopting the method of erecting camps to house the large
number of single men who had been imported from the South. These roads
were the Pennsylvania, Baltimore and Ohio, New York Central, and Erie.
The camps constructed by the Pennsylvania were wooden sheds covered
with tar paper and equipped with sanitary cots, heat, bath, toilet and
wash-room facilities, separate eating room and commissary. This road
built thirty-five such camps, each capable of accommodating forty men.
The camps of the other railroads consisted of freight cars and
passenger coaches converted into sleeping and eating quarters for the
men. In some cases old houses were renovated and used for the same
purposes. Camps were also used by the large steel companies of
Pennsylvania to house their workers. These were largely old barns and
old houses which were transformed into living quarters. They were
reported to be inferior to the railroads' camps in matters of
equipment and sanitation.[111]
The most difficult part of this housing question, however, was that of
community housing, the problem of supplying men with families with
adequate living quarters. An investigation of the housing conditions
among migrants of this type in twenty cities of the North and West
showed that everywhere this problem was very acute. In few cities,
where the Negro migrants were mixed in with the whites, the former
were provided with fairly satisfactory housing conditions, but were
compelled to pay comparatively high rents for least desirable
quarters. Exceptions, nevertheless, were found in these places where
the invasion of white districts by Negro families had resulted in the
moving out of the white residents. Here, very desirable houses for
Negroes were available, but at rental rates far in advance of those
formerly paid by the whites.[112] The small number of available houses
and the high rents asked for the same, moreover, caused the Negroes to
locate themselves within restricted bounds of habitation which
resulted in a great deal of overcrowding among them. There were found
numerous cases in which there were too many persons for each room and
too many for each bed. Instances in this regard will be cited farther
on in this dissertation.
Another effect of the Negro migration was that of increasing the
friction between races in certain parts of the North and West. This
effect, however, was not as extensive as it was once thought to be;
for in many instances Negroes worked and lived peaceably side by side
with the whites. Nevertheless, there were found numerous cases in
which racial friction operated to bring about strained relations
between the two social groups. These manifested themselves in the form
of refusals on the part of some employers to hire Negroes, because
white laborers objected to working with black men, and in the form of
emphatic protests of white residents of certain industrial
towns--especially in the steel districts of Pennsylvania--against the
bringing in of Negroes to live among them. This neighborhood prejudice
existed also in a number of the cities of the North and West, and was,
no doubt, the source of much of the trouble between the races.[113]
The most bitter form of racial friction occasioned through the
migration was that which grew out of economic rivalry and competition
for jobs. This competition was brought about by a policy pursued by
Northern employers, the practice of deliberately importing Negro
laborers from the South to replace white workers who went on strike.
This naturally served to fan the flames of hatred of the white workers
against the Negroes, and actual expressions of this were seen in the
serious race riots which followed.
An example of a race riot which grew out of this economic competition
was that which occurred in Philadelphia, during the early part of
1917.[114] There the white workers in a large sugar refinery went on
strike, whereupon the owners of the plant attempted to break the
strike by the use of Negro laborers. The latter were attacked
violently by the displaced white laborers, and the result was a race
riot in the course of which one Negro was killed, and several others
were wounded. It is said that the whites resented this substitution of
Negro labor for theirs, because the former was being used to keep down
wages and thus destroy unionism.
Another typical example of such a race riot is that which took place
in East St. Louis, Illinois, in July, 1917, during which more than a
hundred Negroes were shot or maimed. Many of them were fatally
wounded, five thousand of them were driven from their homes, and
several hundred thousand dollars worth of property was destroyed. The
origin and cause of this little racial war seemed to have been this:
In 1916, 4,000 white men employed in the packing plants went on strike
and, in retaliation, the employers of these plants brought in Negroes
to work in the places of the strikers. When the strike ended, during
the following year, Negroes were still retained as employees in these
plants, whereas many whites, who struck, were refused their former
jobs. The trade unions then realized the power in this vast resource
of imported labor, and, therefore, took steps to check it by appealing
to the city authorities to restrain employers from transporting
Negroes from the South. In their appeal they threatened to take action
themselves if the city officials did not do so. It happened that the
latter failed to act, and, therefore, the unionists and their
sympathizers, true to their threat, took complete control of the
situation and resorted to mob law as a means of solving the
problem.[115]
Besides these preceding cases, other riots occurred, but these were
due to causes other than economic competition. One of these, which
took place in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1917, seemed to have been due
to natural friction and conflicts between the worst elements of both
groups in the community.[116] During the same year, Homestead,
Pennsylvania, barely escaped a race riot due to ill feeling between
the two groups which had been brewing for some time.[117] In Newark,
New Jersey, there was a race riot in which four men were wounded,
probably fatally, while thirty-three others received slight wounds.
This outbreak was of such magnitude that 150 police reserves were
required to quell it. It has been reported that it was precipitated by
a fight which resulted from a dispute over the amount of money wagered
in a dice game conducted by men of both races.[118] There were riots
during the summer of 1919, in Washington, D. C., Chicago, Illinois,
and Omaha, Nebraska; but it is difficult to say to what extent the
recent exodus was responsible for these outbreaks. It seems highly
probable, however, that the great increase in the white population of
Washington and in the Negro population in Chicago, respectively, as a
result of movements of our population, contributed much towards
intensifying the ill feelings already existing between the two groups.
Furthermore, the coming of the Negroes to the North in such large
numbers and their employment in trades and industries hitherto closed
to them brought to the front the old problem of the Negro and the
labor unions. With few exceptions, the Negroes have generally been
barred from membership in the unions on account of race prejudice; and
this has especially been the case in the North where the unions are
oldest and most powerful and influential in labor affairs. Here white
union laborers have manifested their prejudice by repeatedly refusing
to work with Negro employés. This naturally prevented employers from
utilizing Negro labor, and the outcome of this policy was to exclude
the Negroes from the better paying positions and to push them almost
wholly into those avocations which are unskilled or unsettled.[119]
The Negroes have thus been forced into positions where generally they
must work for less pay than the unionists, and because of this the
latter have branded Negro laborers as "scabs," notwithstanding the
fact that the doors of the unions were closed to them. Unwilling to
bear this stigma, which made them an object of contempt in the eyes of
trades unionists, Negro workers made efforts to organize themselves
and drew up petitions requesting admission into the unions. These
efforts, however, have been again and again made fruitless by the
local labor unions which discriminate against men on account of race
and color. When this matter has been referred to the national and
international councils these latter bodies have held that their
constitutions recognize no such discriminations, but at the same time
acknowledged their inability to control these local unions. These
locals, therefore, have been a great obstacle to the unionization of
Negroes.[120]
Evidently this decree of the American Federation of Labor was not
obeyed by all its affiliated internationals, because at its next
annual meeting, held in Montreal, Canada, June, 1920, the question of
Negro admittance to membership in unions figured as a conspicuous part
of its proceedings. On this occasion the discussion of this question
arose out of allegations made by delegates, mainly Negroes from
Northern States, which accused the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks
(whose constitution provides for white membership only) of having
refused membership to Negro freight handlers, express and station
employees. At the same time, demands were made to the effect that the
Federation should change this state of affairs. The tense moments of
the convention were reached when the Organization Committee, to whom
the matter had been referred, submitted a non-concurrence report,
taking the position that the Federation had no authority over the
constitution of an affiliated union. This report naturally evoked a
very heated controversy between the Negro delegates and their white
sympathizers and those whites who were opposed to giving Negroes
membership in the labor unions. The Federation, however, rejected this
report, and for the first time in its history threatened the autonomy
of an affiliated union by first demanding, by several motions, that
the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks abolish the color line in its
constitution or forfeit its charter in the Federation. None of these
drastic motions prevailed. Finally, a modified motion, requesting,
rather than demanding, this brotherhood to eliminate from its
constitution the words "white only" and give the Negro freight
handlers, express and station employees full membership, was carried.
Following the adoption of this motion, Chairman Duncan spoke thus,
"This, I believe, will settle the Negro problem in our organization
for all time. Our affiliated unions must now understand that the color
line is abolished."[121]
This second act of the American Federation of Labor is, indeed,
another step forward in its efforts to settle the problem of the Negro
and the unions; but that it will settle this problem for all time is
very doubtful. Certainly, there are great obstacles in the way of an
early solution of it. Chief of all these obstructions is the force of
racial prejudice, which has demonstrated again and again that in spite
of laws to the contrary it is powerful enough to devise and put into
effect plans whereby its desires may be accomplished. Furthermore,
when one considers the structure and foundation of the American
Federation of Labor he wonders whether it has authority over its
affiliated unions sufficient to compel them to abide by its decrees.
The American Federation of Labor is a loose federation of national and
international unions--a federation of independent unions. Each
national or international, though it receives its charter from the
federation, is autonomous, free to withdraw from the federation, and
it possesses all the machinery necessary for an independent existence.
To this end, it is self-governing, having its own constitution which
grants it vast powers. Local unions and other subordinate
organizations are created by it. By means of charters and
constitutional provisions it actually determines membership and
membership conditions and privileges, the functions of locals, their
officers and duties, the discipline of the members, and the general
conduct of the affairs of the local. Thus, while theoretically the
local union is the economic unit of unionism, practically the national
or international is the unit, for it and not the local is of primal
importance in the American Federation of Labor.
On the other hand, the powers of the American Federation of Labor,
though very broad and potent, do not seem to have scope and force
enough to permit this body to interfere with much effect in the local
affairs of the national or international unions, because of the large
degree of sovereignty possessed by these organizations. These bodies,
therefore, are at liberty to do things which often are detrimental to
the best interests of trades unionism. Here, then, it is seen that the
great obstructions to Negro membership in the unions are not the
locals but rather the national or international unions, because the
locals are entirely responsible to the latter bodies, which are in
turn accountable to the Federation. The American Federation of Labor
is, therefore, confronted with the difficult task of compelling its
nationals or internationals which discriminate against Negroes to
change their constitutions and grant Negro laborers full membership in
their unions. Can it or will it exert sufficient pressure on these
organizations to bring this to pass? Its most potent coercive measure
is the revoking of a union's charter, and the question is will it have
the courage to employ this weapon to secure economic justice for the
Negro, or will it hesitate to do so? By its action at its last annual
meeting, when it preferred to request the Brotherhood of Railway
Clerks to eliminate racial discrimination from its constitution and
give the Negroes membership in its unions, rather than demand it to do
so or forfeit its charter, the American Federation of Labor indicated
that either it was doubtful of the extent of its authority over its
affiliated international unions or that it is as yet unwilling to deal
sternly with them.
Despite these difficulties, the Negro laborers are not giving up the
fight for their admittance into the unions. In various ways they are
still opposing these forces which are barring them from these
organizations. In the meantime they are availing themselves of the aid
of certain Negro social agencies which have undertaken to supply the
Negro workers with that industrial leadership which they lack by being
outside the labor unions. These agencies are the Young Men's Christian
Association, Young Women's Christian Association, and the National
Urban League. These bodies function through their respective
industrial secretaries in cities of the North and West. These agencies
aim to serve the Negro laborers by investigating and cultivating new
avenues of employment, to stand as a buffer between them and the white
unions and furnish the leadership usually exercised by trades unionism
by taking up the Negro's grievances directly with the management. That
these objects may be accomplished these organizations have adopted
certain methods of procedure. Most of them operate free employment
offices through which from several hundred to two thousand laborers
are placed per month. The Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh
branches of the National Urban League, and the Indianapolis,
Cincinnati, and Columbus Y. M. C. A. branches render still broader
service by studying the demand for labor and by endeavoring to
persuade employers to use Negroes in new capacities. They try also to
aid men to make good on the job by appealing to race pride, by holding
noon shop-meetings, and by stimulating the companies to cultivate
friendly relationship between labor and the management. These bodies,
by acting as mediators in labor disputes, moreover, have been
successful in averting or settling a number of minor strikes.[122]
Finally, if by some means the American Federation of Labor should
succeed in compelling its affiliated unions to abolish the color line
in their respective constitutions and admit the Negro to full
membership in their unions, the Negro will be granted a right long
denied him, the right of working on terms of equality with the other
race, if he can demonstrate his competence to do so. It will give him
a chance to enter all of the skilled and therefore better paid trades
and the opportunity to be judged on his merits in them. If this
barrier of race discrimination is thoroughly broken down, moreover,
there will be open to the Negro paths long closed to him, the effect
of which cannot fail to elevate to an appreciable degree his status in
the industrial world. Then, by enjoyment of this right, the Negro will
no longer in effect be excluded from the higher type of occupations
and pushed into those commonly regarded as menial and held in
disdain.[123]
FOOTNOTES:
[107] Haynes, G. E., _Survey_, 40: 116, May 4, 1918.
[108] White, W. F., _The Crisis_, 19: 113, Jan., 1920.
[109] _New Republic_, 7: 213, July 1, 1916.
[110] _Living Age_, 295: 58, Oct. 6, 1917.
[111] Tyson, F. D., _Negro Migration in 1916-17_, Rep. U. S. Dept.
Lab., pp. 145-48.
[112] Kingsley, H. M., _The Negro Migration_, Rep. Home Missions
Council, Jan., 1919.
[113] Tyson, F. D., _Negro Migration in 1916-17_, Rep. U. S. Dept.
Lab., p. 129.
[114] Tyson, F. D., _Negro Migration in 1916-17_, Rep. U. S. Dept.
Lab., pp. 129-30.
[115] Tyson, F. D., _Negro Migration in 1916-17_, Rep. U. S. Dept.
Lab., pp. 130-31.
[116] _Ibid._, pp. 131-32.
[117] _Ibid._, p. 133.
[118] _New York Times_, Sept. 4, 1917, 7: 1.
[119] Bryce, James, _The American Commonwealth_, 1916 ed., p. 549.
[120] Jones, E. K., _The Negro in Industry_, pp. 2-3.
[121] Hoxie, R. F., _Trade Unionism in the U. S._, pp. 112-135.
[122] Woofter, T. J., Jr., "The Negro and Industrial Peace," _Survey_,
45: 491, Dec. 18, 1920.
[123] _New York Times_, June 16, 1919, 12: 5.