Affirmation of Jim Crow and Traces of Anti-Racist Dissent in Black YMCAs during the Great Depression

Abstract

Black contexts such as segregated YMCAs are absent from the dominant narrative of leisure history. Although some research has been conducted on Black YMCAs, these studies often concluded that these sites were temporary havens from racism. However, segregation was also connected to fundamental assumptions about Black people (e.g., as inferior), beliefs which could not be warded off by the erection of separate buildings. The question therefore remains: how did the ideology of segregation enter into the everyday operation of Black YMCAs? The present study used archival methods to examine this question. Findings suggested that some Black YMCA leaders employed Jim Crow stereotypes through language used in internal documents, at conferences and in program advertisements. However, other YMCA leaders strategically adopted Jim Crow in order to enable access to White philanthropy. The discussion examines Jim Crow as a force which is both persistent and insidious within leisure settings.

Keywords:

• History
• Jim Crow
• leisure
• recreation

Notes

1 The term Black is favored throughout this paper to underscore the oppression faced by all people of African descent, regardless of their language or culture (Shelby, 2005). African American is only used to remain consistent with the terminology used by the author(s) being cited.

2 Jim Crow refers to the systemic subjugation and separation of African Americans in the United States at the time of this study. Though often associated only with laws, Cole and Ring (2012) argued that Jim Crow also included “…political chicanery, economic coercion, and outright violence that whites used to circumscribe the life choices of blacks” (p. 2). African Americans resisted Jim Crow in a range of ways, from direct confrontation with unjust laws and policies to creating separate, safe spaces such as YMCAs (see for example Tuck, 2010; Woodward, 1974).

Additional information

Funding

Appalachian State University.