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Footnotes 1363
at Harvard College were listed, not alphabetically, but according to family rank.”
(Curtis P. Nettels, The Roots of American Civilization [1938], p. 327.)
John Dollard describes typical Negro behavior in relation to whites in Southern-
town as “white-folks manner”;
“There is a continual flow of agreement by the Negro while a white man is talking,
such as ’Ves, boss,’ ‘Sho nuff,’ ‘Well, I declare,’ and the like. The Negro must maintain
a position of continuous affirmation of the white man’s wishes and ideas, showing
thereby his lack of contrary intent, independence, aggressiveness, and individuality. A
‘good nigger’ from the white man’s point of view is one who has mastered this tech-
nique.” (Op. cit,y p. 180.)
When whites tell jokes about Negroes a main point is to “give an image of a high-
toned, pleading voice, full of uncertainty, begging for favor. Evidently this whining,
cajoling tone is one of the badges of inferiority which Negroes accept and cultivate.
The whites imitate it with an evident hostile relish. It establishes at once by its difference
from ordinary white speech the inferior position of the Negro as a suppliant.” (Ibid.^
P- 257-)
Idem.
Gustavus Myers, America Strikes Back (1935). It is interesting to note that the
South has similarly been accustomed to accusing the Northern Yankees of “materialism.”
To illustrate the extent to which the etiquette has broken down—or never existed
—we may cite Charles S. Johnson’s summary of the etiquette in eight counties of the
rural South. (Grotving Uf in the Black Belt [1941], pp. 277-280.)
“Where taboos are rigid:
1. Negroes may never marry whites in any of the counties studied.
2. Negroes may never dance with whites in any of the counties studied.
3. Negroes may never eat with whites in any of the counties except Bolivar and
Coahoma (Mississippi) and Davidson (Tennessee).
4. Negroes may never play games with whites in any counties except Bolivar, David-
son, and Madison (Alabama).
5. Negroes must always use ‘Mr.’ and ‘Mrs.’ when addressing whites in all counties.
6. Whites never use ‘Mr.’ and ‘Mrs.’ when addressing Negroes in Bolivar, Coahoma,
Johnston (North Carolina), Macon (Alabama) and Shelby (Tennessee).
7. Negroes never drink with whites in Madison and Shelby counties except occa-
sionally among the lower classes.
8. Negroes never enter white people’s houses by the front door in Coahoma and
Johnston.
9. Negroes must give whites the right-of-way on the sidewalks in Bolivar and
, Madison.
10. Negro men must take oflF their hats in banks, stores, and so forth, where whites
need not, in Madison.
11. Negroes cannot touch a white man without his resenting it in Bolivar and
Madison.
12. Negroes must always say ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘Yes, ma’am,’ when addressing whites in
all counties except Davidson and Johnston.”
“Where the etiquette is relaxed:
I. Negroes drinJc with whites sometimes in Bolivar, Coahoma, Davidson, Greene,
Johnston, and Macon.
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