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654 An American Dilemma
cious and resentful.® If, In later stages of the War, necessities In the nature
of a national emergency should tend to open up new employment possibil-
ities for Negroes in the war industries, this would probably have perma-
nently beneficial effects on racial attitudes on both sides of the caste gulf.
Our general hypothesis is that everything which brings Negro and white
workers to experience intimate cooperation and fellowship will, on the
balance, break down race prejudice somewhat and raise Negro status. The
possibilities for Negroes to rise to the position of skilled workers have,
therefore, not only economic significance but also a wider social import as
this will tend to weaken the stereotype of the menial Negro.
There are other types of economic contacts between Negroes and whites
in which the members of the two groups are of equal or near-equal status.
Over a long time span Negro purchasing power has been increasing,**
and
the number of Negro businessmen who can deal as economic equals with
whites in a similar position has been rising. The long-run effect of this is
probably to make more whites realize that some Negroes have as much
capacity as they, although some whites feel nothing but irritation and
resentment that can turn into violence at the thought of Negroes rising in
the economic scale. The effect, as usual, is cumulative: white merchants
and salesmen in the South are chipping away at the etiquette in order to
please their Negro customers, and the absence of the etiquette in a social
relation helps to create a spirit of equality.
Another sort of economic relationship in which Negroes have a measure
of near-equality with whites is that in which the Negro is an entertainer
or artist. The Negro as a musician, actor, dancer, or other type of artist is
allowed to perform almost freely for a white public in the North—and to
some extent in the South^—in a way that he can in no other economic
sphere outside of the service occupations. His excellence in these fields
—
cultivated by folk stimulation from earliest childhood and by the realiza-
tion that other means of earning a living are closed—is recognized. In
fact, it is even supported by the stereotypes: the Negro must make up for
an intellectual lack by an emotional richness. Nevertheless, a Negro who
achieves distinction or popularity in these fields is regarded as an individual,
and there can be little doubt that he raises the general prestige level of
the Negro population. What has been said of the entertainment and artistic
"See Chapter 17, Section 7.
**
That is, the average Negro has more money to spend (holding constant the purchasing
value of the dollar), although his increase has not paralleled that of the average white man.
® Negro entertainers may appear before white audiences in the South if there is no implica-
tion of social equality. Individual Negro artists appear before Southern white audiences with-
out difficulty. All-Negro dance orchestras may play for white dancers. But Negro players are
not allowed in large white bands. In September, 1941, the well-known white band leader,
Artie Shaw, broke all his Southern engagements because he was not allowed to bring along
his Negro trumpeter, “Hot Lips” Paige.
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