The Negro in Chicago

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Excerpt from The Negro in Chicago: How He and His Race Kindred Came to Dwell in Great Numbers in a Northern City, How He Lives and Works, His Successes and Failures, His Political Outlook, a First-Hand Study Jean Baptiste Point de Saible tramped to the shore of Lake Michigan and built a home 137 years ago. His was the first house in the present 198 square miles of skyscrapers and miscellaneous structures known as Chicago. The rough house in the wilds along the lake may have the credit for being the foundation of the city. Point de Saible remained here seventeen years, traded with the Indians, trapped for skins, fought and drank whisky. Then in 1796 he sold his home to a Frenchman and went away to what is now Peoria. He was the first settler and property owner in Chicago. Point de Saible was a free colored man from Santo Domingo. To-day the city which that colored man founded is one of opportunity and freedom unexcelled for the man, woman or child of the Negro race. From all parts of America, especially from the southland, their eyes turn toward Chicago. Many of them come north. The influx has run into the thousands in the last few months. Colored Population Gaining. The colored portion of Chicago's population is growing more rapidly in proportion to Its numbers than any other. Pome persons see in it a danger to the future of the city. It is ^admittedly a very complex problem. The colored population is pushing out farther every day. It has broken out of the city blocks which a few years ago were called its own, until to-day it covers hundreds of blocks of residence and business territory. It presents a situation which cannot be ignored. Little has been known of this big element in the city's life. Even those who have given it study and time cannot agree on such an elementary fact as the number of colored persons in the city. Estimates run from 40, 000 to 176, 000. Definite information on the local activities of the race has been lacking. Now a reporter for The Daily News has made an effort to present the facts about some of these activities, in order to describe truthfully a condition vital to Chicago. Colored men and women are represented in almost every line of activity in Chicago. In no other city of the country do they fill such responsible positions in political, industrial and professional fields. That is why leaders of the race declare that Chicago is the city which holds out the most promising future for their people. In the Industrial Field. In the industrial field the colored population has invaded the labor market with a rush. Men and women of the race are being employed by thousands in business plants where a few years ago a colored person would not be admitted even as a visitor. To organized labor the growing problem of colored help Is a disquieting augury of future storms. Chicago is one of the few cities in the United States where the eolored man is not admitted to the trade unions, even though he may have a union card from some other city. Out of the union he is eligible as a strike breaker , and once he has shoved his foot ever the "employes' entrance" the colored man often remains, even after the strike is settled. In Chicago are hundreds of stores, restaurants, saloons, barber shops, haberdasheries, tailor shops, beauty parlors, real estate offices and similar lines of business run by colored men and women, In commercial activity they have lagged in the north compared with the south. They trade at stores run by other races. Some stores make special inducements to them. Others try to discourage their patronage. Race Politically Exploited. Politically the Negro race is being exploited in Chicago by designing men. A few colored men receive political preferment and jobs are ple