the white man will not tolerate is rape of a white woman. For this crime, the white man forgets his civilization and retaliates by mob violence. The Negro claims that the majority of lynchings are not for the crime of rape, that many Negroes are lynched for petty offenses, that others with no opportunity for trial die innocent of any crime. They point to the fact that the white man seldom receives the same penalty for rape of a black woman, yet white men are not above this crime. The thoughtful Negro and the thoughtful white man both realize that lynching is a blot on democracy, that it should be condemned and abolished. Strong sentiment against this unlawful practice is developing in the country. The Society for the Advancement of Colored People, with other interested parties, agitated in 1922 for the passage of a federal anti-lynching bill. The bill was passed by the House but failed to pass the Senate. It was opposed largely on the ground of its unconstitutionality. The matter has been left in the hands of separate states. The need for some planned campaign against the lynching evil is evident. It is estimated that in the period 1871-1873 only about 11 persons were lynched yearly in the south.33 While from 1885-1921 there were approximately 4,097 lynchings and one-fifth of them were for the crime of rape. The number of lynchings in recent years has declined. Lynching is one of the several grievances the race conscious Negro holds against the white man. Few Negroes ask for or approve of social equality, if interpreted to mean racial amalgamation. Many are content to accept segregation. But there are increasing numbers who believe that civil and political rights should be theirs, that strong measures should be taken to abolish lynching, that court trials and judicial sentences should be free of color prejudice, that public educational opportunities should be the same for both races-in short, that the Negro should be allowed to fully share in the American ideals of self-government, liberty, and equality of opportunity. 34 33 Brawley, B., "Social History of the American Negro," p. 295. 34 "Negro Year Book," p. 72. IX THE NEGRO IN THE ECONOMIC WORLD AGRICULTURE During and since the days of slavery, the majority of Negroes have lived in the south and have been engaged in agricultural pursuits. With the passing decades, Negroes have migrated north in large numbers, have pushed out into a variety of employments, and have been less concentrated in agriculture. At the same time more of those Negroes engaged in tilling the soil have been advanced from the status of laborers to positions of responsibility. While these tendencies exist, over half of the Negroes are still engaged in agriculture and over half of those so engaged are still in the farm labor group, and the majority of Negroes still reside in the south. This is particularly true of the agriculturists, of whom more than 95 per cent are resident in that portion of the country. A farmer is defined by the census as a person who operates a farm. He may be the owner, tenant, or manager. A farm laborer is not included in the terms "farmer" or "farm operator." A far larger proportion of white farmers own their farms than Negroes. Over two-thirds of the whites are farm owners, while less than one-fourth of the Negroes own the property they are operating. This proportion is determined by the Negro farmers of the south who comprise the bulk of colored farm operators. In the south less than one-fourth of the Negro farm operating group are owners; in the north over two-thirds of the Negroes own the farms they are operating; and in the west almost seventenths of them are owners. The white man is not only three times as likely to be a farm owner as the colored man, but the proportionate number of white farm managers likewise far exceeds that of Negroes. The bulk of Negro operators are tenants in contrast to the whites who The southern Negro tenant may be either a cropper A cropper usually receives the use of land, tools, house, buildings, and garden plot in return for a certain share of the crop. This share ordinarily amounts to fifty per cent. are owners. or a renter. THE TENANT SYSTEM 129 The cropper is expected to furnish his own labor and any additional labor which may be necessary to harvest the crop. If he fails to cultivate his land properly, the landlord may hire the help needed for a successful undertaking. The cost of this procedure is deducted from the cropper's share of the crop. In practice the cropper, especially on a plantation, is largely dependent on the landlord. The degree of this dependency varies with his success in working his crop and the advances made him by his landlord. The cropper has not the money to finance his own enterprise or to care for his family while the crop is making. The funds for these purposes are given him by the landlord. Often the cropper is charged a high rate of interest on the money thus advanced. As a result he pays higher prices for everything than he would if he were making cash payments. On the other hand, the landlord has staked a considerable sum in the enterprise. He runs the risk of a crop failure when he will receive neither rent for his land and other property nor payment of the money he has advanced. He is, therefore, an interested factor and lends his supervision or that of his agent to the success of the cropper's undertaking. The cropper, like many other southern Negro farmers, may be uneducated and disinclined to work more than is absolutely necessary for subsistence. He may be irregular, non-progressive, and inefficient. Unable to carry on an independent enterprise, he would sink to the status of laborer were it not for the driving force of the white man. This furnishes him with the power necessary to effect a successful harvesting of the crop. While this paternalistic system aids the Negro in establishing himself as a farm operator and tides him and his family through hard times, it makes him less independent, tends to keep him in debt and subject to the will of another man. The Negro borrower is frequently so greatly in arrears that he is no longer a free agent but must remain bound to the one plantation, ever working out his debt, ever borrowing to exist. Under such circumstances, the Negro is virtually in a state of peonage, though he is bound by no court order. The practice has become systematized among unscrupulous landlords and employers who will sometimes take extreme measures to keep the Negro and prevent him from going elsewhere. He may be arrested on some small pretext. His employer is waiting in court to pay his fine. The Negro is then required to work out the fine. In this way .he is bound to remain with his employer for a certain period of time or suffer imprisonment. The Negro himself loses sight of law and justice. He commits petty crimes, knowing that his employer will stand the fine and he will not have to go to prison. Landlords have been known to sell their claim against the Negro to some farmer wanting to procure labor. This may be done with or without the consent of the Negro debtor. If done without his consent it is almost equivalent to selling the Negro. In recent years, the system of legal peonage, the leasing out of convict labor, has not been so prevalent. It was even claimed that it had practically passed away in the south, but early in the year 1921 the "Williams case" came to light. John S. Williams of Georgia had been in the practice of buying out Negro prisoners who were then bound to work on his farm. These men, held in peonage, were subjected to great brutalities. Williams and his Negro foreman were arrested, charged with murder. The foreman exposed his master's crime, and not one but eleven Negroes were said to have been murdered on the master's orders. The remains of bodies were discovered on the plantation. The evidence was so strong that a white jury sentenced Williams and his foreman to life imprisonment. The Governor of Georgia then issued a pamphlet making public 135 cases in which Negroes had suffered injustice, ill treatment, and even death. In only two of the cases were the Negroes accused of crime against white women. Many of the examples cited were instances of peonage, showing that this system still exists in the south. While legal peonage is, broadly speaking, only a diminutive factor in modern southern life, the type of peonage which is characteristic of the tenant system, given an unscrupulous landlord and a weak Negro, is more widespread. The dominance which may be exercised by landlord over tenant and the latent possibilities for fraud and exploitation are outstanding defects of this system. It also helps to maintain the one crop method of farming which has at times proved so hazardous and shortsighted. The failure of the staple crop means heavy financial loss and possibly ruin for the persons involved. Under the tenant system, the landlord stipulates what crops the cropper shall raise. These ordinarily consist of cotton or corn and the cropper must confine the major part of his farming to these staples. It is only when he becomes an independent renter or farm owner that he can branch out into other fields. The renter enjoys a greater degree of independence than the cropper; but like the cropper, his independence varies with his ability and his financial condition. If he has accepted advances from his landlord, he can expect a NEGRO AND WHITE FARMERS COMPARED 131 The renter pays greater measure of interference in his affairs. his rent either in cash or in kind. The ambitious Negro farmer prefers the position of renter to cropper and of owner to renter. With the progress of the race, the increasing opportunities offered to secure an education and to specialize in agriculture, the Negro farm operator group shows steady advances. In making any comparison between the white and Negro farm operators, the peculiarities of the tenant system in the south must be taken into consideration. Three-fourths of the Negro farmers are tenants. A large number of these are croppers rather than independent renters. Often subject to close supervision, they must share the credit for whatever success they attain with their white supervisors. On the other hand, considering the comparatively short period which has elapsed since Negroes had neither property nor freedom, their progress in agriculture as well as in industry and the professions is good. They have steadily advanced from the status of farm laborers to that of tenants, managers, and farm owners. They have cared for and improved the property they have acquired. The value of the land and buildings held by Negroes increased considerably more from 19001920 than did the value of all farm land and buildings. This was probably due largely to the fact that most of the Negro farms were situated in the south where farm property showed greater appreciated values than in the north and west. The Negro usually has a much smaller farm than the white man, but this again is partially due to the section of the country in which his farm is located. In the south the average size of all farms is, comparatively speaking, small. While the Negro has a small farm, he has had the industry to cultivate a large part of it. In 1910, practically two-thirds of the average Negro farm was improved and but a little over one-half of the white farm. The very smallness of the Negro farm necessitates the improvement of a greater proportionate acreage. The white farmer with his larger capital can afford to buy up and hold unimproved lands for future sale at advanced prices. The Negro generally lacks the funds and possibly the foresight to follow this course. THE PROFESSIONS In the professions the Negro has made greater strides than he has in agriculture. When the race was freed, it was practically without trained doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, ministers, and other professionals to care for its members. These had been |