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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - X. The Negro Community - 43. Institutions - 5. Voluntary Associations
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Chapter 43. Institutions 953
out,®® the tremendous amount of club activity among Negroes is, in one
sense, a poor substitute for the political activity they would like to partici-
pate in but cannot because of caste. Negroes are largely kept out, not only
of politics proper, but of most purposive and creative work in trade unions,
businessmen’s groups, pressure groups, large-scale civic improvement and
charity organizations, and the like.
A second reason why we regard the huge number of voluntary associa-
tions among Negroes as pathological is that some of them—especially the
lodges—would seem to follow a pattern which is about a generation behind
the general American pattern. Whereas in white America the lodges—with
their secret rites and elaborate ritual—^began to become unpopular at least
thirty years ago, the decline of Negro lodges occurred, not because they
became unpopular, but because they failed to pay insurance premiums. The
most serious decline of Negro lodges has occurred in the last ten years.®^
And when lodge membership did decline among Negroes, the lower class
people who left lodges simply joined religious sects, rather than disentangle
themselves completely from such old-fashioned groups, as did whites.®’-^*
The content of the meetings of the Negro sociable groups, even outside the
old-fashioned lodges, also reveals the lag in their adaptation to modern
American standards. The meetings are often heavily formalized, in the
manner of white upper class clubs of a generation or two ago. Strict rules
of parliamentary procedure are followed in the ^‘business” meetings; the
‘^entertainment” consists, with little variation, of card-playing, lectures, or
recitals; a complete roster of officers is elected even if there are less than
a dozen members in the entire club; in upper class clubs formal dress is
required at certain of the meetings.®
Another reason why we regard the great number of Negro voluntary
associations as a sign of social pathology is that they accomplish so little in
comparison to what their members set out to achieve by means of them.
A large number of the associations—including not a few of the “social”
“Behavior at club meetings is rather rigidly stereotyped—( i ) business, while visitors
wait in another room, (2) card playing, (3) eating, (4) a period of rather general
unorganized conversation and hilarity. There are wide variations, however, in the nature
of the ‘business’ discussed and in the amount of formality involved. The bulk of the clubs
are very formal in their conduct of business, having a parliamentarian to correct the group
on points of order, even when only four or five members are present. Since there is a great
deal of inter-club visiting, the clubs are careful about ‘doing things in an orderly manner’
so that they will not get a ‘bad reputation.* Some clubs play whist, but the bulk of them
play auction bridge} a few play contract. A few vary the procedure by the use of popular
games such as ‘Pick-up-sticks,* ‘Lexicon,* or ‘Pit.*
“Ranking within the club world depends partly upon the elaborateness of the entertain-
ing and the orderliness of meetings. Clubs range from the very formal middle-aged women*8
groups of upper-middle class to the rather rough behavior of younger upper-lower class (or
even middle-aged lower class groups.) On the whole, however, the standards of the club
world operate to stereotype the behavior.** (Drake, “The Negro Church and Associations in
Chicago,** pp. 466-467.}
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