THE NEGRO’S OWN PROBLEM
The Negro migration is neither an isolated nor a temporary phenomenon,
but the logical result of a long series of linked causes beginning with
the landing of the first slave ship and extending to the present day.
The slavery which was ended by the Emancipation Proclamation and the
Fourteenth Amendment of the National Constitution has been succeeded
by less sinister, but still significant social and economic problems,
which are full of subtle menace for the welfare of America.
The intelligent Negro has long believed that his only escape from the
measure of suppression which still exists is to go to the North, and
he has seized the opportunity whenever it was presented to him. The
present unprecedented influx of black workers from the South is merely
the result of a sudden expansion of opportunity due to a war-depleted
labor market in the North. The causes for his migration are basically
inherent in the social and economic system which has kept him down for
these long years in the South. The Negro is beginning to appreciate
his own value and duties, and is proceeding to the North where he
knows he can at least enjoy a measure of justice. This naturally means
a tremendous problem for the North. The race question is no longer
confined to the states below the Mason and Dixon Line, but becomes
the concern of the whole nation. It may be presumed that the European
immigration after this war will not be as great as it was before it.
The Negro is taking the place of the foreign worker, and he is certain
to become an increasingly important factor in our national political
and industrial life. He is already an important political factor in
some municipalities; he is soon to be a basic factor in our industries.
The Negro who has lived in the North has taken advantage of the
industrial opportunities which were open to him, and is continuing to
do so more and more.
Our policy of _laissez-faire_ adopted towards the European
immigrant can no longer be continued. This war has taught us some
great lessons, and probably the greatest of all is the lesson of the
necessity for a redefinition of social terms, and a reconsideration
of human values. It has made us realize that if we want the nation to
stand united in times of stress our policy must be consistent at all
times. Democracy we have learned in this struggle, no longer means
“each for himself, and the devil take the hind-most.” If it means
anything at all, it is that we are “members one of another”, and that
an injury to one is an injury to and the concern of all. Our old policy
has shown us that the devil has taken too many, and we have come to
say, “Halt!” This must no longer continue. We must see that all the
elements which go to make up our body-politic are adjusted and placed
in their proper relation. Our traditional attitude, this struggle has
taught us, is too costly and we cannot afford longer to continue it. We
know now that it is not sufficient that a few may have democracy and
freedom while the rest are denied economic opportunity. We are also
coming to realize that “we cannot hold a part of our fellow-men down in
the gutter without remaining there ourselves.”
No exact estimate of the number of Negroes who have come North within
the last year is possible. Estimates vary from three hundred thousand
to seven hundred thousand. There are probably about two million Negroes
now living in the North, and it is of paramount importance that we look
into the conditions of these people who although in our midst, are yet
so little known to us, and see that they are fitted into their new
environment. Our little study of the social opportunities available,
and the conditions existing among our Negro brethren may therefore be
of great interest, and we are glad to present here some of the facts
which were disclosed in our survey of these people who have recently
settled amongst us, in order to avail themselves of our hospitality,
and industrial opportunities. We have discussed in the preceding pages
the immediate opportunities for Negroes in this city as to housing and
wages. It may therefore not be amiss to discuss the possibilities of
his attaining an advanced political, social and economic status.
Politically, the Negro in Pittsburgh is as free as the whites of the
same group. Coming from places where the vote is denied him, he is
naturally very glad to receive the privilege in Pittsburgh. It is a
well known fact that the Negro vote is often a deciding factor in
the results of municipal elections. Although there are a few shrewd
Negro politicians, and the Negro vote is frequently “_en bloc_”
there is never an issue made on some particular Negro problem. All
candidates seem to assume that there is no special issue that concerns
the Negro more than any other group in the city, and unscrupulous
Negro politicians are not in the least perturbed. They always see to
it, however, that no Negro vote will be lost, that their occupation
tax is paid, and that they are registered. This was clearly brought
out in this year’s municipal election. Although the Negro vote was a
great factor in deciding this campaign, not one of the candidates made
an issue of the housing and other problems which are confronting the
Negroes at present. It can therefore be stated that in politics, while
the Negro has been utilized by all sorts of politicians, he has at
least nominally been as free as his white brother in the same position.
However, more and more we are coming to realize that political freedom
without industrial opportunities means but little. Democracy must
also mean industrial opportunity, and social democracy, as well as
political democracy. But the industrial opportunity which the Negro
demands is not even the same as is demanded by his more fortunate
white-skinned brother. While his fellow-human beings demand a larger
voice in industry and business, and a greater share of the product, the
Negro is still meekly begging for his inalienable right to participate
in industry, to help extend and build it up. It is the denial of this
right that confronts the Negro in the North, and makes his problem of
paramount significance.
The great majority of the Negro migrants come North because of the
better economic and social opportunities here. But even here they are
not permitted to enter industry freely. They are kept in the ranks of
unskilled labor and in the field of personal service. Until the present
demand for unskilled labor arose, the Negroes in the North were for the
most part, servants. There were very few Negroes occupied otherwise
than as porters, chauffeurs, janitors and the like. The Negro at
present has entered the productive industries, but he is kept still on
the lowest rung of the economic ladder.
_TABLE NUMBER XIII_[7]
_List of Industrial Concerns Visited in the Pittsburgh District_
+------------------+-----------+--------+---------+------------------+
| |No. of |No. |% doing |Wages per|No. of |
| NAME OF CONCERN |Negroes |employed|unskilled|hour of |hours |
| |employed at|prior to|labor. |unskilled|per day.|
| |present. |1916. | |labor. | |
+------------------+-----------+--------+---------+------------------+
| Carnegie Steel Co. 4,000 1,500 95% 30c 8 to 12 |
| (all plants) |
| Jones & Laughlin 1,500 400 100% 30c 10 |
| Westinghouse |
| Elec. & Mfg. Co. 900 25 90% 28-30c 10 |
| Harbison & Walker 250 50 80% 27½c 10 |
| National Tube Co. 250 100 100% 30c 10 |
| (all plants) |
| Pressed Steel Car Co. 25 25 50% 23c 11 |
| Pgh. Forge & Iron 75 0 100% 30c 10 |
| Moorhead Brothers 200 200 75% 30c 10 |
| Am. Steel & Wire 25 25 100% 28-30c 10 |
| Clinton Iron & Steel 25 25 75% |
| Oliver Iron & Steel 50 0 100% 25-28c 10 |
| Carbon Steel Co. 200 50 75% 30c 10-12 |
| Crucible Steel Co. 400 150 90% 28-33c 10 |
| A. M. Byers Co. 200 0 60% 10 |
| Lockhart Steel Co. 160 0 95% 27½c 10 |
| Mesta Machine Co. 50 0 100% 30c 10 |
| Marshall Foundry Co. 15 0 |
| U. S. Glass Co. No Negroes employed |
| Thompson-Sterret Co. No Negroes employed |
| Spang-Chalfant Co. No Negroes employed |
| ------ ------ |
| 8,325 2,550 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
From a study of colored employees in twenty of the largest industrial
plants, in the Pittsburgh district, arbitrarily selected (Table No.
XIII), we find that most of the concerns have employed colored labor
only since May or June of 1916. Very few of the Pittsburgh industries
have used colored labor in capacities other than as janitors and window
cleaners. A few of the plants visited had not begun to employ colored
people until in the spring of 1917, while a few others had not yet come
to employ Negroes, either because they believed the Negro workers to
be inferior and inefficient, or because they feared that their white
labor force would refuse to work with the blacks. The Superintendent
of one big steel plant which has not employed colored labor during
the past few years admitted that he faced a decided shortage of
labor, and that he was in need of men; but he said he would employ
Negroes only as a last resort, and that the situation was as yet not
sufficiently acute to warrant their employment. In a big glass plant,
the company attempted to use Negro labor last winter, but the white
workers “ran them out” by swearing at them, calling them “Nigger” and
making conditions so unpleasant for them that they were forced to quit.
This company has therefore given up any further attempts at employing
colored labor. It may be interesting to note, however, that one young
Negro boy who pays no attention to such persecution persistently stays
there.
About ninety-five percent of the colored workers in the steel mills
visited in our survey were doing unskilled labor. In the bigger plants,
where many hundreds of Negroes are employed, almost one hundred percent
are doing common labor, while in the smaller plants, a few might be
found doing labor which required some skill. The reasons alleged by
the manufacturers are; first, that the migrants are inefficient and
unstable, and second, that the opposition to them on the part of white
labor prohibits their use on skilled jobs. The latter objection is
illustrated by the case of the white bargemen of a big steel company
who wanted to walk out because black workers were introduced among
them, and who were only appeased by the provision of separate quarters
for the Negroes. While there is an undeniable hostility to Negroes
on the part of a few white workers, the objection is frequently
exaggerated by prejudiced gang bosses.
That this idea is often due to the prejudice of the heads of
departments and other labor employers, was the opinion of a sympathetic
superintendent of one of the largest steel plants, who said that in
many instances it was the superintendents and managers themselves,
who are not alive to their own advantage and so oppose the Negro’s
doing the better classes of work. The same superintendent said that
he had employed Negroes for many years; that a number of them have
been connected with his company for several years; that they are just
as efficient as the white people. More than half of the twenty-five
Negroes in his plant were doing semi-skilled and even skilled work.
He had one or two colored foremen over colored gangs, and cited an
instance of a colored man drawing a hundred and fourteen dollars in
his last two weeks pay. This claim was supported by a very intelligent
Negro who was stopped a few blocks away from the plant and questioned
as to the conditions in the plant. While admitting everything that
the Superintendent said, and stating that there is now absolute free
opportunity for colored people in that plant, the man claimed that
these conditions have come into being only within the last year. The
same superintendent told of an episode illustrating the amicable
relations existing in his shop between the white and black workers.
He related that a gang of workers had come to him with certain
complaints and the threat of a walk-out. When their grievances had been
satisfactorily adjusted, they pointed to the lonely black man in their
group and said that they were not ready to go back unless their Negro
fellow worker was satisfied.
[Illustration: The Migration in Process.]
From our survey of the situation it must be evident that the southern
migrants are not as well established in the Pittsburgh industries
as is the white laborer. They are as yet unadapted to the heavy and
pace-set labor in our steel mills. Accustomed to the comparatively
easy-going plantation and farm work of the South, it will take some
time until these migrants have found themselves. The roar and clangor
of our mills make these newcomers a little dazed and confused at first.
They do not stay long in one place, being birds of passage; they are
continually searching for better wages and accommodations. They cannot
even be persuaded to wait until pay day, and they like to get money
in advance, following the habit they have acquired from the southern
economic system. It is often secured on very flimsy pretexts and spent
immediately in the saloons and similar places. It is admitted, however,
by all employers of labor, that the Negro who was born in the North or
has been in the North for some time, although not as subservient to bad
treatment, is as efficient as the white; that because of his knowledge
of the language and the ways of this country, he is often much better
than the foreign laborer who understands neither.
Paradoxical as it may seem, the labor movement in America--which it is
claimed was begun and organized primarily to improve the conditions of
all workers, and protect their interests from the designs of heartless
and cruel industrial captains--has not only made no effort to relieve
and help the oppressed black workers who have suffered even more than
the whites from exploitation and serfdom, but in many instances have
remained indifferent to the economic interests and even served as an
obstacle to the free development of the colored people.
Since the East St. Louis race riots in July of this year, and later
on the Chester and other race clashes, the press has been full of
controversy concerning the colored labor problem in the North.
Employers as well as many prominent persons openly laid the blame for
the spilling of the blood of women and little children at the door
of the labor unions. On the other hand, the labor men almost as a
unit have charged the responsibility for these riots to the Northern
industrial leaders who are bringing these laborers to be used as a tool
to break up the labor movement in the North.
The motives of the employers who are bringing the colored migrants
are obviously not altruistic. They are not concerned primarily with
freeing the Negro from the economic and political restrictions to
which he is still subjected in the South. It is not to be assumed that
their interests extend further than the employment of these ignorant
people as unskilled laborers. Indeed the sheer economic interest of the
Northern industrial concerns which are bringing the Negro migrants, may
be illustrated by the following contract, which is typical of many
agreements signed by migrants when accepting transportation North.
“It is hereby understood that I am to work for the above named Company
as ...................................., the rate of pay to be
.................................. The ............ Railroad agrees
to furnish transportation and food to destination. I agree to work
on any part of the .............. Railroad where I may be assigned.
I further agree to reimburse the ............ Railroad for the cost
of my railroad transportation, in addition to which I agree to pay
................................ to cover the cost of meals and other
expenses incidental to my employment.
I authorize the Company to deduct from my wages money to pay for the
above expenses.
In consideration of the ............ Railroad paying my carfare,
board, and other expenses, I agree to remain in the service of the
aforesaid Company until such time as I reimburse them for the expenses
of my transportation, food, etc.
It is agreed upon the part of the Railroad Company that if I shall
remain in the service for one year, the ............ Railroad Company
agrees to return to me the amount of carfare from point of shipment
to ........................... By continuous service for one year is
meant that I shall not absent myself from duty any time during the
period without the consent of my superior officer.
It is understood by me that the ............ Railroad will not grant
me free transportation to the point where I was employed.
I am not less than twenty-one or more than forty-five years of age,
and have no venereal disease. If my statement in this respect is found
to be incorrect this contract becomes void.”
....................
Laborer’s Name.
It is apparent that since the war has put a stop to the importation
of foreign immigrants, the Negroes are so far the only cheap and
unorganized labor supply obtainable. Indeed Mexicans were brought to
work here in the same way, although the experience with them was not as
satisfactory as with the blacks.
While it may be true that the motive for bringing these ignorant
workers is primarily to fill up the unskilled labor gap, and not to
break up the labor movement, it is self-evident that the employers
would scarcely admit the latter motive even though it was paramount.
It may be, that ultimately the employers may use these workers against
the union organizations or against the securing of the eight-hour-day,
which the local unions are aiming to attain. Indeed, the employment
agent of one of our great industrial plants, which underwent a big
strike a few years ago, pointed out that one of the great values of
the Negro migration lies in the fact that it gives him a chance to
“mix up his labor forces and to establish a balance of power”, as the
Negro, he claimed, “is more individualistic, does not like to group and
does not follow a leader, as readily as some foreigners do.” However,
in only one instance in our survey of the Pittsburgh Trade Unions,
was a complaint lodged against colored people taking the places of
striking white workers. This was in a waiters’ strike and was won just
the same, because the patrons of the restaurants protested against
the substitution of Negro waiters. In all the others, there were no
such occurrences. Indeed, the number of Negroes taking the places of
striking whites and of skilled white workers is so small that it is
hardly appreciable. They are, as we have seen, largely taking the
places which were left vacant by the unskilled foreign laborers since
the beginning of the war, and the new places created by the present
industrial boom. No effective effort has been made to organize these
unskilled laborers by the recognized American labor movement. These
people, therefore, whose places are now being taken by the Negroes,
worked under no American standard of labor, and the fear of these
unskilled laborers breaking down labor standards which have never
existed, is obviously unfounded.
The generalization cannot also be made that the colored people are
difficult to organize, for from our survey we have found only one
Union, the Waiter’s Local, that has made any attempt to organize the
colored people, and was unsuccessful. The official of this Union
explains it because the colored waiters “are more timid, listen to
their bosses, and also have a kind of distrust of the white Unions.”
The same official also admitted that while he himself would have no
objection to working with colored people, the rank and file of his
Union would not work on the same floor with a colored waiter. None of
the other Unions made any effort to organize the colored workers in
their respective trades, and they cannot therefore complain of the
difficulty of organizing the Negroes.
In the two trade organizations which admit Negroes to membership, the
colored man has proved to be as good a unionist as his white fellows. A
single local of the Hod Carriers Union, a strong labor organization,
has over four hundred Negroes among its six hundred members, and has
proved how easy it is to organize even the new migrants by enlisting
over one hundred and fifty southern hod carriers within the past year.
The other Union which admits Negroes--The Hoisting Engineers’ Union,
has a number of colored people in its ranks. Several of these are
charter-members, and a number have been connected with the organization
for a considerable time. Judging from the strength of these Unions--the
only ones in the city which have a considerable number of blacks
amongst them--the Negroes have proved as good Union men as the whites.
If the Pittsburgh trade organizations are typical of the present
national trade union movement it would appear that there is little hope
for the Negroes. If the present policy of the American labor movement
continues, the Negroes can depend but little upon this great liberating
force for their advancement. A few facts disclosed in our canvas of the
trade unions in Pittsburgh will bear out our statements.
[Illustration: A Row of Dilapidated Old Dwellings in the Downtown
Section Used as Rooming Houses for Migrants.]
An official of a very powerful Union which has a membership of nearly
five thousand said that it had about five colored members. He admitted
that there are several hundred Negroes working in the same trade in
this city, but his organization does not encourage them to organize
and will admit one of them only when he can prove his ability in his
work--a technical excuse for exclusion. This official was a man who
was born in the South; he believed in the inferiority of the Negro,
deplored the absence of a Jim Crow system, and was greatly prejudiced.
Another official of an even more powerful trade union was greatly
astonished when he learned that there are white people who take an
interest in the Negro question. He absolutely refused to give any
information and did not think it was worth while to answer such
questions, although he admitted that his union had no colored people
and would never accept them. There are, however, several hundred
Negroes working at this trade in the city. White members related
numerous incidents of white unionists leaving a job when a colored man
appeared. Several other unions visited had no Negroes in the union
although there were some local colored people in their respective
trades.
The typical attitude of the complacent trade unionist is illustrated
by a letter which was written by a very prominent local labor leader,
a member of the “Alliance for Labor and Democracy” in answer to
certain questions asked him. This official refused to state anything
orally, and asked that the questions be put to him in writing. His
answers, we may presume, have been carefully worded after considerable
contemplation of the problem.
The letter begins: “While I do not wish to appear evasive, I do not
think some of the questions should have been asked me at this time.”
Questions and answers follow:
Q. Number of white members in the Union?
A. Our Union has had a growth of one hundred percent in the past six
months in the Pittsburgh district.
Q. Number of colored people in the Union?
A. None.
Q. Has there been an increase in the colored labor in your trade within
the last year? If so, state approximately the proportion.
A. Yes, estimates can be made only by the employer, as we do not
control all shops.
Q. Has there been an increase in the colored union membership within
the last year or two?
A. Yes, statistics can be gotten from Mr. Frank Morrison, Secretary,
American Federation of Labor, Washington, D. C.
Q. What efforts does your Union make to organize the colored people in
your trade?
A. Same effort as all others, as the A. F. of L. does not bar any
worker on account of race or creed.
Q. Has any colored person applied for membership in your Union within
the last year?
A. Yes.
Q. Have the colored people in your trade asked for a separate charter?
A. Not that I know of.
Q. Do you personally know of any complaint by a person of color against
your Union as regards race discrimination?
A. Yes.
The official admits that there are colored workers in his trade, that
some have applied for membership, and that there have been complaints
of race discrimination. His statement concerning efforts to organize
Negro laborers would seem to have little meaning in view of his
assertion that the growth of white membership during the past year was
one hundred percent, while that of Negro membership was zero.
It may, however, be interesting to note that a man who joined this
Union about the time this letter was written, said the President of the
Union gave him the following pledge:
“I pledge that I will not introduce for membership into this Union
anyone but a sober, industrious, WHITE person.”
Very often union officials are apt to point to their constitutions
which guarantee that no color line be established, and say that the
colored people make little effort to organize, and that they are really
not trying to get into the Union. “Why don’t the Negroes organize
locals of their own?” they ask. The assertion that colored people are
making little effort to become organized is undoubtedly true, for
it may be presumed that if they had continuously, insistently and
in sufficient numbers knocked at the doors of the trade unions the
barriers would have been unable to withstand the strain and would
have opened to them. But unfortunately the attitude of the trade
unions developed among the Negroes a feeling of hopelessness which is
detrimental to both the Negroes and the labor movement. “What’s the
use?” is the reply usually given by skilled colored workers when asked
why they do not join the unions. They know well enough that they will
not be admitted, and that even if they were accepted they could never
hope to secure a job from the Union. This spirit goes even further, and
is fraught with the most imminent danger. A very intelligent colored
labor official said, that there is developing among many Negroes the
feeling that the most laudable action is to do anything which will
harm or break the labor movement.
[Illustration: A Row of Model Houses Originally Built by a Steel
Company for its Colored Workers, but used by Foreign Laborers at
Present Because of the Protest of the People in the Neighborhood.]
That this fatalistic and dangerous attitude of the colored people is
not groundless is again evidenced from our study of the situation. The
attempt of union officials to becloud or to ignore the issue by saying
that the colored people make no effort to become Union members, and do
not try to organize their own locals is disclosed by the following case:
On January 1st, 1917, a group of about thirty unorganized Negro
plasterers sent the following letter to the Operative Plasterer’s and
Cement Finishers’ International Association of the United States with
offices at Middletown, Ohio.
Pittsburgh, Pa., January 1st, 1917.
“We, the undersigned Colored Plasterers of the City of Pittsburgh, met
in a session on the above named date, and after forming an Organization
for our mutual benefit voted to petition to you our grievances on
the grounds of being discriminated against because of our color. We
therefore would like to have a Local Body of our own for our people.
We also voted to ask you for the advice and consideration of such a
movement, and hereby petition you that you grant us a license for a
local of our own, to be operated under your jurisdiction, praying this
will meet with your approval, and hoping to get an early reply.
This will show that to date we have the support of the men here listed
besides a few more. Officers elected so far are as follows:”
The signatures of the officers and twenty-five members follow.
The International then sent the following reply:
“Replying to your letter, we are writing our Pittsburgh Local today
in reference to your application for charter. According to the rules
and regulations of our organization, no organization can be chartered
in any city where we have a Local without consulting the older
Organization.”
This was signed by the Secretary of the International Association.
The Pittsburgh Local then invited the Secretary of the colored
organization to appear at their regular meeting. When the Secretary
came, they told him he could have five minutes time in which to present
his claims. Nothing resulted from this meeting and no written statement
whatsoever was made by the Pittsburgh Local in spite of attempts to
secure such.
On a further appeal to the International, the Secretary of the Colored
Plasterer’s Organization received the following letter from the
International Secretary.
“Replying to your letter, I enclose a copy of our constitution and
refer you to section No. 34, page No. 8, which means that no charter
can be issued to your organization unless approved by No. 31 of
Pittsburgh, Pa.”
An official of Local number 31 admitted that the rank and file would
never consent to have colored people among them, and attend the social
functions given by the Union, although he claimed they could not
possibly reject a man because of his color, as it is a gross violation
of their constitution. He explained the reasons for his local refusing
a separate charter to the Negroes as follows: First, that if a charter
would be granted to them, they would all become members for the nominal
charter fee while their initiation fee for individuals amounts to
thirty dollars, and this he said would be a discrimination in favor of
the Negroes. But the greatest objection was that the colored plasterers
asked for a smaller scale of wages, ($4.50 a day as compared with $6
for whites). When questioned as to his reason why the colored people
would not prefer a higher wage, he explained that they could not get
work as no one would employ a person of color at the same wages as a
white person.[8]
The Secretary of the short-lived colored organization gave as his
reason for not joining the Union as an individual the fact that he was
aware that the Union, even were he a member, would not supply him with
a job, and that white Union men would walk out were he by any chance to
be employed.
Another illustration of the difficulty confronting the colored person
when he desires to join a Union, is the following: Two colored
migrants, J. D. and C. S., painters from Georgia, had applied to the
Union for membership in November and December 1916, respectively.
Both of these persons have their families here, and claim fourteen
and sixteen years’ experience in the trade, stating also that they
can do as good a job as any other union man. Each one of these claims
to have made from $25 to $30 a week in the South by contracting. The
official in the office of the Union whom they approached to ask for
membership unceremoniously told them that it would take no colored men
into membership. The result was that one of these men was fortunate
enough to find work in his own line in a non-union shop, receiving
twenty dollars per week for eight and one-half hours, as compared with
$5.50 for an eight hour day, the union scale. The second man, however,
was not so fortunate, and unable to find work in his own line, he is
now working as a common laborer in a steel plant making $2.70 for ten
hours per day. That many of the colored skilled people do not attempt
to join the union because they know the existing situation is obvious.
The brother-in-law of one of the above men, also a skilled worker, when
asked why he did not try to join the Union, characteristically shrugged
his shoulders and uttered the fatalistic “What’s the use?”
The following case which throws light on the general situation, and
illustrates the resultant effects of this injustice was related by the
head clerk of the State Employment Bureau of this city.
“In the month of June, 1917, a man giving the name of P. Bobonis, a
Porto Rican, came to our office and asked for work as a carpenter. Mr.
Bobonis was a union carpenter, a member of the Colorado State Union.
The first place he was sent they told him they were filled up, and when
a call was made to determine if the company had sufficient carpenters,
the foreman said that it was impossible for them to employ a colored
carpenter as all of the white men would walk out, but that they were
still badly in need of carpenters. It was then decided to call upon
the different companies recognizing the union, to see if they all felt
the same way. Much to our amazement we found it to be the general
rule--the colored man could pay his initiation fee and dues in the
Union, but after that was done he was left little hopes for employment.
Four large companies were called for this man and he could not be
placed. As a last attempt, a call on the Dravo Contracting Company
was made and as they have some union and others non-union men, they
employed the man.
Mr. Bobonis was not a floater, but a good man. He is a graduate of
Oberlin College and is now working to raise enough money to enable him
to study medicine.”
Although the attitude of the recognized American Labor movement on
the colored question is generally known, the great mass of people are
easily misled and appealed to on race lines. It is unfortunate that
often a race issue is made of a purely labor question. An episode
of the past winter is a case in point. The drivers in one of our
department stores had organized themselves into a union and were locked
out. The department store immediately substituted colored non-union
drivers. Appeals to union people based on race issues were then carried
to the patrons of that store until the department store was forced to
discharge all of its colored drivers and re-instate the white ones.
This was done in spite of the fact that the Union was not recognized,
and was broken up, and although the manager of the store is said to
have admitted that almost half of the colored drivers had proved one
hundred percent efficient.
The difficulties and slow progress made in organizing the laboring
classes generally is apparent to anyone who reflects that in spite of
the long years of continued effort, and in spite of the fact that in
many instances there was no resistance from the employers, hardly ten
percent of the working population of the United States is organized in
trade and industrial unions today. The problem is difficult for the
white men, and it is exceedingly more difficult for the blacks. The
white laboring classes have to contend only with the manufacturers. The
Negroes, however, have to contend with the white trade unions as well
as with the employers.
Until recently, very few colored people in the North were working in
trades where the whites were organized. The great mass of Negroes were
doing work of the personal service character, and acted as porters,
janitors, elevator men, etc. This class of workers is extremely
difficult to organize even among the whites. Within the past two
years, however, Negroes have in increasing numbers entered the trades
which have been organized by the whites. Being refused admission to
most of the white unions the only thing the colored man can do is to
form his own organization. The first step toward organizing the Negro
working man and woman was taken in New York City in July 1917, when the
Associated Colored Employees of America was organized. The bulletin
used by this organization states that its purpose is to give “facts
concerning conditions in the North compiled for the benefit of those
who some day expect or desire to be actually free.” This organization
aims to function as an employment bureau advising members where
particular work may be found, and to give general information to those
workers who are eager to come from the South.
[Illustration: Rear View of Tenement Near Soho Dump. Note Refuse on
Left and Street Level on Right.]
The difficulty in organizing the colored people into a separate
organization along Trade Union Lines was thus explained by a very
prominent Negro leader. The Negro, he said, is escaping from the
tyranny of the South to the freedom of the North. In the North he is
opposed and at times even mobbed by white laboring men. Strange as
it may seem, the industrial captain in the North is the Negro’s only
friend. He at least is interested in him; he goes after him to bring
him North, provides food and shelter for him, pays him better wages
than he received in the South, and in many instances gives him medical
attention, and helps him bring his family here. Can you expect him
under the circumstances to alienate and betray his only friend in the
North, for the trade unions whom he fears and distrusts?
It is obvious that the trade unions will have to make a more
attractive appeal to convince the Negro that they are really his best
friends. Their duty and policy are clear. Theirs is a struggle for
the protection of the working people, in order to secure for all the
oppressed some of the enjoyments of life. Theirs is a continuous battle
for organization, the organization of all workers, irrespective of
race, color and creed.
The Negro’s own problem and his tragedy in slavery and in freedom is
probably best summarized in the following lines taken from the Emporia
Gazette and written by William Allen White:
“If the black man loafs in the South he starves. If he works in
the South he is poorly paid, more or less in kind--chips and
whetstones--and his wife becomes a ‘pan-toter.’ If he leaves his own
estate in the South and goes to work in Northern industry, he is mobbed
and killed.”
“He was brought to these shores from Africa a captive. He is held by
his captors in economic bondage today--forbidden to rise above the
lowest serving class. He is herded by himself in a ghetto, and if,
while he is there, he reverts to the jungle type, he is burned alive.
If he tries to break out of his ghetto, and, by assimilating the white
man’s civilization, rise, he is driven out by his white brothers.”
“If he goes to school, he becomes discontented and is unhappy and
dissatisfied with his social status. If he does not go to school and
remains ignorant, he is then only a ‘coon,’ whom everybody exploits,
and who has to cheat and swindle in return, or go down in poverty to
begging and shame. There aren’t ships enough in the world to take
him back to the land of his freedom; there isn’t enough for him here
except on the crowded bottom rung of the ladder, and there, always, the
grinding heel of those climbing over him topward is mangling his black
hands.”
“Race riots, lynchings, political ostracism, social boycott, economic
serfdom. No wonder he sings:
“Hard Trials--
“Great tribulations,
“Hard trials--
“I’m gwine for to live with the Lord!”
No wonder as he looks dismally back at the forest whence he came, and
dismally forward to the hopeless set to which he is slowly being
pushed, he lifts his plaintive voice in its heartbroken minor and wails:
“Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home!”
““_Home_” is about the only place he can go, where they don’t
oppress him.”
[7] The figures in this table were secured during the months of July
and August 1917, and have probably been changed since.
[8] The fear that admitting local Negroes to the trade unions would
flood the city with skilled Southern Negroes, was given as a reason by
one Negro for the exclusion of his race-men from the unions, but was
not mentioned by any of the white union officials.
THE COMMUNITY’S PROBLEM