The Philadelphia Negro. W. E. B. Du BoisЧитать онлайн книгу.

      In 1810 the Negroes had formed nearly one-tenth of the total population of the city, but in 1870 they formed but little over one thirty-third, the lowest proportion ever reached in the history of Philadelphia.

      The general social condition showed some signs of improvement from 1840 on. In 1847 there were 1940 Negro children in school ; the Negroes held, it was said, about

      The habitat of the Negro population changed somewhat in this period. About 1790 one-fourth of the Negroes lived between Vine and Market and east of Ninth ; one-half between Market and South, mostly in the alleys bounded by Lombard, Fifth, Eighth and South; one-eighth lived below South, and one-eighth in the Northern Liberties. Many of these, of course, lived in white families. In 1837 a quarter of the Negroes were in white families, a little less than one-half were in the city limits centring at Sixth and Lombard or thereabouts ; a tenth lived in Moyamensing, a twentieth in the Northern Liberties, and the remaining part in Kensington and Spring Garden districts. The riots concentrated this population somewhat, and in 1847, of the 20,000 Negroes in the county, only 1300 lived north of Vine and east of Sixth. The rest were in the city proper, in Moyamensing and in Southwark. Moyamensing was the worst slum district: between South and Fitzwater and Fifth and Eighth there were crowded 302 families in narrow, filthy alleys. Here was concentrated the worst sort of depravity, poverty, crime and disease. The present slums at Seventh and Lombard are bad and dangerous, but they are decent compared with those of a half century ago. The Negroes furnished one-third of all the commitments for crime in 1837, and one-half in 1847.

      Beginning with 1850 the improvement of the Negro was more rapid. The value of real estate held was estimated to have doubled between 1847 and 1856. The proportion of men in the trades remained stationary ; there were 2321 children in school. Toward the time of the outbreak of war the feeling toward the Negro in certain classes softened somewhat, and his staunch friends were enabled to open many benevolent institutions; in many ways a disposition to help them was manifested: the newspapers treated them with more respect, and they were not subject so frequently to personal insult on the street.

      They were still kept off the street cars in spite of energetic protest. Indeed, not until 1867 was a law passed prohibiting this discrimination. Judicial decisions upheld the railways for a long time, and newspapers and public opinion supported them. When by Judge Allison's decision the attitude of the courts was changed, and damages granted an evicted Negro, the railway companies often side-tracked and left cars which colored passengers had entered. Separate cars were run for them on some lines, and in 1865 a public ballot on the cars was taken to decide the admission of Negroes. Naturally the conductors returned a large majority against any change. Finally, after public meetings, pamphlets and repeated agitation, the prospective enfranchisement of the freedmen gained what decency and common sense had long refused.²¹

      Steps toward raising Negro troops in the city were taken in 1863, as soon as the efficiency of the Negro soldier had been proven. Several hundred prominent citizens petitioned the Secretary of War and were given permission to raise Negro regiments. The troops were to receive no bounties, but were to have

      After the war and emancipation great hopes were entertained by the Negroes for rapid advancement, and nowhere did they seem better founded than in Philadelphia. The generation then in its prime had lived down a most intense and bitter race feud and had gained the respect of the better class of whites. They started with renewed zeal, therefore, to hasten their social development.

12. The Influx of the Freedmen, 1870–1896.—The period opened stormily, on account of the political rights newly conferred on black voters. Philadelphia city politics have ever had a shady side, but when it seemed manifest that one political party, by the aid of Negro votes, was soon to oust the time-honored incumbents, all the lawless elements which bad city government for a half-century had nurtured naturally fought for the old regime. They found this the easier since the city toughs were largely Irish and hereditary enemies of the blacks. In the spring elections of 1871 there was so much disorder, and such poor police protection, that the United States marines were called on to preserve order.²³

      In the fall elections street disorders resulted in the coldblooded assassination of several Negroes, among whom was an estimable young teacher, Octavius V. Catto. The murder of Catto came at a critical moment; to the Negroes it seemed a revival of the old slavery-time riots in the day when they were first tasting freedom ; to the better classes of Philadelphia it revealed a serious state of barbarism and lawlessness in the second city of the land ; to the politicians it furnished a text and example which was strikingly effective and which they did not hesitate to use. The result of all this was an outburst of indignation and sorrow, which was remarkable, and which showed a determined stand for law and order. The outward expression of this was a great mass meeting, attended by some of the best citizens, and a funeral for Catto which was perhaps the most imposing ever given to an American Negro.²⁴

      This incident, and the general expression of opinion after the war, showed a growing liberal spirit toward the Negro in Philadelphia. There was a disposition to grant him, within limits, a man's chance to make his way in the world ; he had apparently vindicated his right to this in war, and his ability for it in peace. Slowly, but surely, therefore, the community was disposed to throw off the trammels, brush away petty hindrances and to soften the harshness of race prejudice, at least enough to furnish the new citizen the legal safeguards of a citizen and the personal privileges of a man. By degrees the restrictions on personal liberty were relaxed ; the street cars, which for many years had sought by every species of proscription to get rid of colored passengers or carry them on the platform, were finally compelled by law to cancel such rules ; the railways and theatres rather tardily followed, and finally even the schools were thrown open to all.²⁵ A deep-rooted and determined prejudice still remained, but it showed signs of yielding.

      It cannot be denied that the main results of the development of the Philadelphia Negro since the war have on the whole disappointed his well-wishers. They do not pretend that he has not made great advance in certain lines, or even that in general he is not better off to-day than formerly. They do not even profess to know just what his condition to-day is, and yet there is a widespread feeling that more might reasonably have been expected in the line of social and moral development than apparently has been accomplished. Not only do they feel that there is a lack of positive results, but the relative advance compared with the period just before the war is slow, if not an actual retrogression; an abnormal and growing amount of crime and poverty can justly be charged to the Negro ; he is not a large taxpayer, holds no conspicuous place in the business world or the world of letters, and even as a working man seems to be losing ground. For these reasons those who, for one purpose and another, are anxiously watching the development of the American