The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1919-08-21
NEGROES IN CHICAGO.
Conditions Out OF Which Race Eric
ton Has Grown.

F Frank Gardner IN New vi n liliiS"
Exploitation of the negro in Chlca-
go. by politicians is regarded by many
as the chief underlying cause OF the
race riots in that city. The oestoWal
of political preferment, and the IL
cense under which everything went
in the Black Belt of the second lar
gest American city was the inflamma-
bIe part of the tinder which finally
set the city ablaze.
The influx of thousands OF negroes
from the south in the last three years
was a contributing factor. Thelr
arrival in an already congested dis
trict made expansion necessary.
Steadily the Black Belt. which
stretches for five miles through the
heart of the densely populatd south
side of Chicago, bulged out into what
a few wears ago was choice resident
ial district. This continuous encroach-
ment aroused protests and bitter lee!-
ing.
The advance guard of the colored
race which moved into white nelgh-
borhoods was the better class OF ne
gro families, who sought to escape
the steady encroachment of the un-
desirable element of their own race.
They had no desire to antagonize their
white neighbors. Their relations hau
always been friendly. But they were
between two fires. Pressing always
behind them was the influx of law
less element of their own race. Few
of the newcomers brought negro
women with them, and some Chica-
go observers hold the absence of home
life among them partly accountable
for the present trouble.
Political Power.
The second ward in Chicago is the
heart of the Black Belt. Eighty per
cent of the voters in this ward are
black. White men represented this
ward in the city council until 1915
but now bo.h aldermen are negroes.
Two mer control most Of the ne
gro vote il Chicago. They are Con-
gressman Martin B. Madden Of the
First Illinois District and George F.
Harding, former alderman, later
state senator, and now city controller.
1t was the balance of power held by
Tue uCfylOSS ps
that gave William Hale Thompson,
more widely known as a pro-German
than for his kindnesses to negroes,
the nomination for mayor of Chicago
in the spring of 1915. Harding had
represented the second ward in Chica-
go: for several years. He retired anQ
permitted Oscar De Priest, negro,
e. hN al cd fey
or the negroes swept the mayoralty
nomination into Thompson's lap.
Thompson won the nomination by a
margin of few hundred votes.
: De Priest became one of the chief
: floor leaders in the city council for
, the Thompson administration. His
public career was cut short by his
indictment in connection with the al
legged collection of tribute in the
Black Belt, but he was later acquit-
ted. Another negro succeeded him.
Then the second ward negroes grew
bolder, demanded both seats in the
city council, and got them.
In his campaign for the nomination
and election in 1915 Thompson cater
ed to the negro voters. After his elec
tion he rewarded many Of their lead
ers with jobs.
So openly did the Thompson crowd
treat with the negroes that somebody
dubbed the city hall Uncle Toms
Cabin One man caused handbills to
be printed, setting forth a complete
cast of characters, which included
Mayor Thompson and other city hall
jobholders, white and black. 1t got a
big laugh, which is Chicago's usual
good natured way of disposing of her
problems.
Lid off the Black Belt.
Thompson had been mayor only a
short time when evidence was appar-
ent that there was no lid so far as the
Black Belt was concerned. From other
sections Of the city white men and
women of the old underworld, who
had experienced some long, lean years
flocked to the neighborhood. White
men bought saloons and cabarets and
pushed negroes to the front as their
ostensible owners. Soon the Black
Belt became known as the district
where everything went"
All-night cabarets were jammed
with whites and blacks until the
morning sun streaked the sky over
Lake Michigan. In other parts of the
city saloons and cabarets closed at
l a. M, but automobiles lined the
curbs for blocks all night in Black
Belt, and late corners stood in line for
hours outside some of the more no.
torious "black and tan" cabarets
waiting for a chance to get inside
Jazz bands filled the air with syncop-
ated sound, while in the 'cabarets
white and blacks intermingled in ca
rousal 1t was here that the "shimmy"
dance is said to have originated.
The rattle Of dice and the click of
poker chips were seldom stilled in the
heart of this district. Gambling was
conducted on a business basis.
syndicate was formed, and no indie
pendent could operate successfully in
that district without it's approval.
These gambling houses were run in