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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - V. Politics - 22. Political Practices Today - 5. What the Negro Gets Out of Politics
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Chapter 22. Political Practices Today 501
to their numbers in the population. GosnelPs summary for Chicago applies,
with slight variation, throughout the North.
Under the existing political system, the Negroes secured about as many concrete
benefits from the government as most other minority groups. However, because
their needs were greater, these benefits were not sufficient. Inadequate as they were,
these services came nearer to meeting the needs than in areas where the Negroes
have not developed some political power.®®
Like whites, Negro racketeers and criminals received protection from
politicians to the extent that they could Influence votes. Ordinary Negroes
received petty favors from politicians almost to the same extent as whites.
Negroes have been elected to office in the North, but not nearly in
proportion to their numbers. Even in the Border states of Kentucky, West
Virginia, and Missouri, there have been a few Negroes in the state legis-
latures. Negroes find it hard to attain an elective office: because most
whites do not like to be represented by Negroes, because Negroes some-
times do not constitute a large enough proportion in a city to control even
small sections like wards, because they have been gerrymandered by
Democratic politicians for being Republican, and because they have some-
times not shown political interest or acumen. Except for a few judgeships
and memberships on such public bodies as Tax Boards and Boards of
Education, no Negro has attained a city-wide elective position. There is
only one Negro national congressman*^ and about a dozen Negro state
legislators.*’ Most of the large cities in the North containing a significant
proportion of Negroes have one or two Negro aldermen or councllmen
each. These are all the Negroes who have been elected to public office in the
North.®
There are more Negroes appointed to public office than elected, relative
to the total number of offices available, but even these are nowhere near
the proportion of the Negro vote. The main reason cited for not appointing
Negroes is that some white citizens have strong objections to dealing with
them. It is also noteworthy that when a white politician appoints a Negro
to some general office, political motives are always inferred, where as white
•William Dawson of Chicago (Democrat). From 1928 to 1934 this seat was held by the
Republican De Priest, who became heir to it when Madden, “the white friend of the Negro
people,” died.
^According to Charles S. Johnson, in 1942 there were Negroes in the state legislatures of
Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Kansas, Indiana and Kentucky.
(“The Negro,” American Journal of Sociology [May, 1942], p. 863.) The November,
1942, election brought Negroes into the legislature of Ohio also.
* In Chicago, for example, Negroes held the following elective positions in 1939: i United
States Congressman, i State Senator, 4 State Representatives, i County Commissioner, 2 City
Aldermen. Negroes in Chicago were more favored than Negroes in any other city. (Hender-
son, O’p. ciU, p. 79.)
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