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In the movies that depict the segregation era, we always see white workers telling black patrons that they would not be served. Were blacks ever hired for these positions to serve white customers?
Come on now...not all restaurants were segregated, the scenes in the movies were just that, designed to promote the plot of the movie and dramatize the problem. Of course black people worked in restaurants, not just as dishwashers, but all the other positions too, even as owners.
Lived in Arkansas for a short time as a kid back then and don't remember any problems in the little cafes we went to; people of all races were both customers and employees and no one really seemed to care. Did anyone really care who cooked their hamburger or who was going to eat it?
I'm sure that some little redneck places existed in the deep south or maybe in upper Maine where people were funny about those sort of things, but I don't think the "problem" was as wide spread as some think.
You might find it interesting to read some of the autobiographies by people like Ray Charles, or Chuck Berry, who were black entertainers in the 50's and 60s'. They were welcome to play a show in a city, and make lots of money for the promoters, BUT they couldn't get a meal in the club that they were performing at.... They had to eat in the kitchen, out of sight. They had to find a boarding house or hotel that served black people, or they slept in their car, or bus.
That was why the southern "chitlin circuit " came into being, to allow popular black acts to tour the south, and play to black audiences, and stay in comfort after their performance was over. Acts like The Isley Brothers were selling records all over the USA, but they couldn't get a glass of water in most southern cafes, unless it was "blacks only ",
This why black acts loved coming to Canada, where they were treated as equals. When Motown was big, their first stops on a tour, would be Toronto and then Montreal, as they knew that the customers would be happy to see them, and that they could relax and enjoy the experience of being in a country that was not racist towards them.
To answer your question directly. Yes blacks were employed in segregated cafes...BUT not out front, just in the kitchen. Remember that all through the Second World War, the US Navy would only allow American blacks to be cooks or laundrymen, and the US Army had many all black labour battalions, who were not trusted with weapons, just shovels and picks. Isn't it ironic that American blacks were second class citizens, at home, but they were sent to Europe to help to defeat the Nazis ?
In the movies that depict the segregation era, we always see white workers telling black patrons that they would not be served. Were blacks ever hired for these positions to serve white customers?
I grew up in Auburn, Alabama. Left there in '63 when I graduated from high school.
There were no black students at the university. No black teachers.
Restaurants were segregated like everything else. There were no black people interfacing with white people at all. If blacks were employed by restaurants it was in the back and out of sight.
There were 3 restrooms - Men, Women, Colored - at public facilities, and always 2 drinking fountains.
Black people were not allowed in restaurants. Or movies.
The black high school used the public football field on Thursday nights. White high school on Friday night. We did not know each other and I never saw a black person at our games.
There were no black police officers. Black teachers taught at the black high school. White teachers at the white school.
Black people were not allowed in the public swimming pool.
A couple of my friends had maids. The maid was driven home after work, and she sat in the back seat while being driven.
Anyone who calls this a "problem" or claims that the situation has been overstated simply wasn't there in the late 50s/early 60s, or has some agenda.
I grew up in Auburn, Alabama. Left there in '63 when I graduated from high school.
There were no black students at the university. No black teachers.
Restaurants were segregated like everything else. There were no black people interfacing with white people at all. If blacks were employed by restaurants it was in the back and out of sight.
There were 3 restrooms - Men, Women, Colored - at public facilities, and always 2 drinking fountains.
Black people were not allowed in restaurants. Or movies.
The black high school used the public football field on Thursday nights. White high school on Friday night. We did not know each other and I never saw a black person at our games.
There were no black police officers. Black teachers taught at the black high school. White teachers at the white school.
Black people were not allowed in the public swimming pool.
A couple of my friends had maids. The maid was driven home after work, and she sat in the back seat while being driven.
Anyone who calls this a "problem" or claims that the situation has been overstated simply wasn't there in the late 50s/early 60s, or has some agenda.
Unfortunately, some people would say we should revert back to such practices. And, they truly mean it.
In the movies that depict the segregation era, we always see white workers telling black patrons that they would not be served. Were blacks ever hired for these positions to serve white customers?
Absolutely, blacks served whites all the time. They could serve at the restaurant, but not sit at the table and be served. It just depends on what restaurant, some let blacks serve, others didn't.
In the movies that depict the segregation era, we always see white workers telling black patrons that they would not be served. Were blacks ever hired for these positions to serve white customers?
Listener's post was very spot on. You would never see a "customer facing" black person in an all white establishment, but you would most likely find some working behind-the-scenes. It was always one of the peculiar aspects of Southern culture that black people were allowed to perform some of the most intimate tasks like raising children, cleaning homes, cooking meals, caring for the elderly, etc. but not be allowed to use the same bathroom, dine in the same place, etc.
I grew up in Auburn, Alabama. Left there in '63 when I graduated from high school.
There were no black students at the university. No black teachers.
Restaurants were segregated like everything else. There were no black people interfacing with white people at all. If blacks were employed by restaurants it was in the back and out of sight.
There were 3 restrooms - Men, Women, Colored - at public facilities, and always 2 drinking fountains.
Black people were not allowed in restaurants. Or movies.
The black high school used the public football field on Thursday nights. White high school on Friday night. We did not know each other and I never saw a black person at our games.
There were no black police officers. Black teachers taught at the black high school. White teachers at the white school.
Black people were not allowed in the public swimming pool.
A couple of my friends had maids. The maid was driven home after work, and she sat in the back seat while being driven.
Anyone who calls this a "problem" or claims that the situation has been overstated simply wasn't there in the late 50s/early 60s, or has some agenda.
All of the above mirrors my own experiences growing up in Florida during this time period. My grandparents had a maid who was a defacto slave, and she was indeed placed in the back seat by herself when my grandmother drove her home, we used to joke about how it made our grandmother look like the maid's chauffeur. Most of my encounters with black people were seeing them in service positions in restaurants or doing lawn work. Any black seen in something other than a servile position was "uppity" according to my elders and I was assured that "He would get his" whatever that meant. My grandmother was tremendously upset when one of her favorite tv programs, "Sing Along With Mitch" violated all taboos by hiring Leslie Uggams as a regular. Dr. King? Well he was just a trouble maker who would have been fine if he had just stayed in his black church "where he belongs."
My high school prided itself on its toleration of Cuban immigrants and refugees, as long as they were the pale skinned European looking Cubans. Black Cubans apparently were counted as blacks. Although I had been tremendously moved and influenced by Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech in 1963, and developed a progressive attitude which put me at odds with my parents and most of the culture surrounding me at the time, I still did not have any black friends until I went away to college.
Come on now...not all restaurants were segregated, the scenes in the movies were just that, designed to promote the plot of the movie and dramatize the problem. Of course black people worked in restaurants, not just as dishwashers, but all the other positions too, even as owners.
Lived in Arkansas for a short time as a kid back then and don't remember any problems in the little cafes we went to; people of all races were both customers and employees and no one really seemed to care. Did anyone really care who cooked their hamburger or who was going to eat it?
I'm sure that some little redneck places existed in the deep south or maybe in upper Maine where people were funny about those sort of things, but I don't think the "problem" was as wide spread as some think.
All of the above mirrors my own experiences growing up in Florida during this time period. My grandparents had a maid who was a defacto slave, and she was indeed placed in the back seat by herself when my grandmother drove her home, we used to joke about how it made our grandmother look like the maid's chauffeur. Most of my encounters with black people were seeing them in service positions in restaurants or doing lawn work. Any black seen in something other than a servile position was "uppity" according to my elders and I was assured that "He would get his" whatever that meant. My grandmother was tremendously upset when one of her favorite tv programs, "Sing Along With Mitch" violated all taboos by hiring Leslie Uggams as a regular. Dr. King? Well he was just a trouble maker who would have been fine if he had just stayed in his black church "where he belongs."
My high school prided itself on its toleration of Cuban immigrants and refugees, as long as they were the pale skinned European looking Cubans. Black Cubans apparently were counted as blacks. Although I had been tremendously moved and influenced by Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech in 1963, and developed a progressive attitude which put me at odds with my parents and most of the culture surrounding me at the time, I still did not have any black friends until I went away to college.
wow, that's all I can say.
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