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Since it's Black History Month, we should be reminded that along with a host of other problems they had to deal with in the first six or so decades of the 20th century, African-Americans had to be very careful when it came to taking a simple vacation. Many hotels and motels wouldn't let them stay the night. In fact, there were whole villages and towns (especially in the South) that wouldn't let them stay the night, at least not if they still wanted to be around in the morning. So to make sure that the black traveler seeking a break from their concerns didn't end up running into even bigger concerns, a Harlem African-American postal worker by the name of the Victor Hugo Green scrounged some money together in 1936 and began publishing his own travel guides, invariably titled The Negro Motorists Green Book or The Negro Travelers Green book, or more informally, as the books became more and more popular (allowing Green to retire early from the post office), the Green Book. These books listed a variety of business, as well as whole neighborhoods and towns, that could be counted on not to give a hard time to black travelers. The guides were put out annually for 28 years, finally ceasing publication upon passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. These days, African-Americans are free to rely on the same AAA triptiks as white folks, as well as in more recent years the Internet. All well and good, though don't be too surprised if in the near future something very much like the Green Book makes a...
...comeback.
He did a wonderful thing and it’s tragic it was necessary. Sad that new guides could be of use now for many minorities.
ReplyDeleteVery sad, Mitchell. History can be a vicious circle.
DeleteHello Kirk, A travel advisory--but imagine the poor black people who already live down there. This also serves as a warning to non-black travelers who do not like to see anyone treated that way, or support an economy that threatens and discriminates. Incidentally, this ties in with blogs I've seen lately about women who do not want to travel, even on business, to Florida and similar states, as their rights and bodies are trampled on in other-but-similar ways.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Oh, yes, Jim, and LGBTQ folks also could use such guides. Come to think of it, such guides for the nonheteronormative existed as recently as ten years ago, and if there are no longer printed versions, it's only because they've move to the Internet.
DeleteHow terrible that those books were needed. A true monument to discrimination and its dangers.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteDeleted my last comment, Debra, because I suddenly realized it was a bit presumptuous. Let me just say part of what makes it terrible is how it was all par for the course at the time.
DeleteIt breaks my heart to know that it is necessary to write books about this. Like it just can't be safe for all of us regardless of our skin color. But I'm glad the world is changing and is more open now. I grew up in an island called Negros Occ so the word never had a bad meaning to us. We throw it out casually because it's just another place. Of course we know it refers to persons also but we never used it with malice. It's only when I became an adult and more aware that I found out it is offensive and discriminating so I should be more careful mentioning it.
ReplyDeleteLux, the term "negro" was used by African-Americans themselves until sometimes in the 1960s, when it was superseded by "black", so today it's not so much an offensive term as dated. Of course, there's a racial slur derived from "negro" and that IS considered offensive.
DeleteAs for the Philippines island you grew up on, Lux, according to Wikipedia, this is how it got its name:
"Negros was originally known to the natives [Filipinos] as 'Buglas', meaning "cut off" in old Hiligaynon. When the Spaniards arrived in April 1565, they named it 'Negros' because of the dark-skinned natives they found"
Ummmmmmmmmmmmm..........Seems to me there might be enough racism to go around there! And not just toward blacks but also the "dark-skinned" natives! Furthermore, it reeks of colonialism. Still, it's been a long time since the Philippines was part of Spain, and since no one living in now-soverign nation-state has considered changing the island's name, it must not be considered offensive, though I do wonder what African-American tourists might make of it.
Not quite the same thing, but here in Cleveland the name of the local baseball team was changed to the "Guardians" from the "Indians", because the latter was deemed racist.
Hello Lux and Kirk, This is an amazing coincidence. The Island of Negros has come up twice in two days. I just read an interesting article about a unique bird specimen from Negros:
Deletehttps://news.yale.edu/2024/02/06/filipino-fruit-dove-long-part-peabody-collection-reveals-its-secrets?utm_source=YaleToday&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=YT_Yale%20Today%20Alum%20no%20Parents_2-9-2024
--Jim
Jim, it's a small word after all.
DeleteInteresting article. Here's hoping that species of bird still exists in the wild somewhere.
How extraordinary but I really shouldn't be surprised. Clearly the need was there for such travel guides. What an interesting piece of history.
ReplyDeleteAlternatives, Andrew. Those outside the mainstream always come up with alternatives.
DeleteIt is hard to believe these days that there was a time when black people in America could not just book a room in a regular motel. Thanks for sharing those pictures; it's good that someone brings attention about those things so that those times never come back.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Paloma. There are those on the Right who see any mention of past discrimination as "divisive". Of course, they're really the ones doing the dividing.
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