The Charlotte Democrat., 1896-08-13
> The Negro in New England.

49, The Negro in New England.
Negroes in Boston are confined for pur-
poses of residence to two or three dis
tricts. There is small demsnd for the
professional negro and still less chance
for the skilled workman, and the possi>
bility of social equality appears more re
mote today than ever. The editor Of
lions Herald, Boston, is authority for
these statements, made after personal
verifcation of the facts. He quotes both
negroes and real-estate men who agree
that houses cannot be secured by colored
people except in the negro quarters. If
q colored man gets home among we'll
TO- do whites, it is through accident or
bt cause some white man does the buying
for him. The negro lives ,ohere he does
and as be does in great part, says the
Herald, because of white prejudice against
him. Turning to the matter of employ
ment, the writer finds that first class negro
barber shops have disappeared; that there
are few colored mail carriers, number
of colored saloon-keepers and smal:
tradesmen; and that some large tailor
shops are owned and managed by colured
men, who, however, employ white clerks
without exception. But the vast major
ity of colored people are employed 10 ho-
tel-, 10 private families, o1 the elevators,
40 porters, and in other work Of that
class. We quote:
"There is no more striking difference
between the negroes of the North and
South than in the matter of their labor.
. y y Here the negro carries the hod, in
the South he lays the brick and mortar;
here he shovels out the cellar, there he
frames the dwelling; here he white. washes
the fences, there he paints the houses;
here he cleans the stable, there be shoes
the horses; here be ia q common laborer,
there he is on artisan. This wide differ
ence in the character Of the labor of the
negro North and South is meaningful.
"Where has he the greater chance = in
Boston or Atlanta? Where has be the
greater incentive to intellectual culture
and mechanical skill? In Boston be may
become the smoothest, the most obsequi.
GUS, of walters; he may even attend q
sods>water fountain in a irst.class drug
store; he may go 10 Harvard, graduate
orator OF his class, and expect to find a
small living as lawyer or physician among
the people Of bis own color at the West
End; but this is the summit to which be
may hope TO climb. There arc few COL
ored lawyers, doctors, preachers, and
teachers in Boston, but the demand is not
great. All these professions are open to
the negro in the s nth, and the call is
imperative"
On this phase of the subject Rev. Dr.
D. P. Roberts, pastor of the A. NJ. E
church in Charles Street. is quoted as
saying: "Boston does many splendid
things for the negro visitor, but other
than rs guest she has no room for him
excspt in the places no white men want
She 10 yes to educate him She loves to
put diploma In bis hand, but with IL q
ticket for the South"
The II, raid gives an interview with
the President Of the League of American
Wheelmen. which for social reasons has
debarred colored people from member
ship, to illustrate "the u1written but in
exorable law of social Boston," To quote
again:
''As we find lhs negroes living in
quarters by themselves, so We find tht m
restricted in SOCIAL life. The color line is
drawn in Boston-silentIy and courteous
y. bu p 'sitiVely and vigorously, drawn
The Two rAces7ride together in the same
cars, they are crowded together n
the same elevator, they receive the same
polite attention in the stores, they % ly
attend the same churches toge, her, they
may sit side by side at the theater r.
concert-in short, in most public and
G. mmercia1 relations the two races q. eet
without signs Ct open repugnance; bu
even this is not wholly true. The negro
can hardl Ct first class white barber
to cut bis hair; Bishop Arne:lo, of the A
M. K. Church. is refused admittance at
three of the leading hotels; the negro is
rarely able TO obtain any thing more han
msnial employment, and tho be be wea-
thy and cultured, he Is not able to buy or
rent desirable property. There is q law
upon the statute books of Massachusetts
against 'aLy distinction, discrimination,
or restriction on account of cJlor or race
in respect to the admission of any
persons to or his treatment in any
place OF public amusement or public con-
veysnce, public meeting, or inn, whether
licensed or not licenced,' punishable by
q fine not exceeding one hundred dollars
This is the standard of the State, but
the sentiment of the people is far below.
Compared with the public sentiment
South. open prejudice in Boston is slight;
but measured by Boston standards, her
treatment of the negro is far different
from what it ought to be. L came from
Baltimore to Boston, said q negro in an.
swer to our question as to how be liked
the oity. and am going back to Balti-
more. The difference between the two
cities is just this: There we know what
to expect and We take our place; we know
where we can 60 and what We can do; We
are plainly told so. But here you're
never told and you never know, but for
Ail that you find yourself quietly pushed
aside aud LETT OUT"
C1mmenting on the Herald's careful
statement of the negro's status in Boston,
the Springfield Republican says, in part:
I'VE all know what it is, because it is
the same in Boston as in other Northern
cities, 1t NAV not be 40 bad "a that of