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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - VII. Social Inequality - 29. Patterns of Social Segregation and Discrimination - 6. Segregation in Specific Types of Institutions
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638 An American Dilemma
full services ordinarily volunteered by clerks. Too, in the South there Is
the abasing etiquette which is only slightly modified when the Negro is a
customer. For all these reasons, Negroes are inclined to patronize estab-
lishments devoted exclusively to them.
These may be owned and operated by Negroes or by white men—^Jews
especially, in the North—^but are seldom patronized by whites except those
seeking unusual pleasures. Most Negro communities—except the smallest
ones—now have the whole gamut of commercial establishments which
cater to persons of low income. This is a relatively recent achievement in
most cities, since Negroes had little capital to open businesses and Southern
whites regarded with disgust any white man who served Negroes exclu-
sively. Negroes of middle and high income are still under great handicaps
except in the largest cities. For amusements they have often turned to
social clubs rather than to commercial establishments, and they are in-
clined to stay at the home of a friend while traveling rather than to
patronize the cheap restaurants and hotels which in larger cities are
available to them. Thus, on the one hand, discrimination has helped to
build up a separate Negro community; on the other hand, it has been an
outcome of enforced segregation on the part of the whites. While there is
less segregation and discrimination against upper class Negroes than against
lower class Negroes, the former have isolated themselves more.
The services of white professional men have always been available to
Negroes. There are relatively few Negro doctors, lawyers, dentists, phar-
macists, nurses, and there are handicaps on the few there are: a Negro
lawyer has little chance in a Southern courtroom, and a Negro doctor can-
not get into most hospitals to operate.® Philanthropic organizations often
refuse to hire Negro professionals to serve the members of their own
group. Negro professionals are further handicapped by a low reputation
in the Negro community. There is much more use of Negro professionals
by Negroes in the North than in the South. But everywhere, white pro-
fessionals are used more frequently by Negroes. Some white professionals
refuse to serve Negroes for fear of lowering their prestige, but probably
the majority will serve Negroes who can afford to pay their fee. There is
one semi-professional service which is unique in that only Negroes serve
Negroes: this is the undertaking service. The live Negro body may be
handled by the white physician, but the dead one is handled only by the
Negro undertaker. This is as much, or more, in accordance with desires
of Negroes as of whites. Undertaking is consequently one of the most
lucrative businesses open to Negroes.**
Voluntary associations—civic, social, business, and professional—^almost
“See Chapter 14, Sections 6 and 7. A few Negro doctors—^mainly in the North but also
occasionally in the South—have a significant number of white clients.
See Chapter 14, Section 2.
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