[Sidenote: =Prosperity Does Not Remove Race Prejudice=]
Of the men from the South every one had improved his condition. Those who said their condition had not improved had been formerly working in the large cities of the East or North, where living expenses were less than in Chicago; only one received lower wages in Chicago. He had earned sixteen dollars a week before coming to the city and now earns nine dollars; two said their conditions had not improved because they “had been led off by fast company.” The incomes varied from $9.00 a month to $153.60 a month; the average wage was $67.32 a month. Sixteen of the men owned real estate and six others had liberal bank accounts. These results probably compare favorably with one hundred white immigrants, but the colored man insists that the immigrant has the advantage for, when he learns the language of the country and adopts American ways, he gradually lives down any prejudice against him, while the colored man can never make himself acceptable to the white man and believes that he is often disliked in proportion to his prosperity.
[Sidenote: =Family Life Among the Poorer Negroes=]
In contrast to these one hundred cases of negro men who were fairly successful, one hundred cases of colored families were taken from the files of the Juvenile Protective Association representing, of course, as do the white families whose names are on the records of the Association, people who were unable to adequately protect their children. These cases, however, proved to be typical in so far as the occupations of the men were confined to very few lines of activity. Forty-five of them were porters, sixteen janitors, thirteen laborers, the rest scattered in different kinds of work--teamsters, waiters, cooks, musicians, etc. The striking difference between them and the more prosperous families lay in the fact that the women were obliged to work. Of the women in these families, only fourteen stayed at home; of the others, twenty-six were day workers in households; twelve worked in laundries; seven were prostitutes; the others worked at various occupations; two were hairdressers; one a music teacher, etc. Of the one hundred families, thirty were self supporting; sixteen did not support their families at all, while fifty-four were dependent on outside assistance. In regard to their family status, sixty-six lived an unbroken family life; in twenty-one cases the husband and wife were separated; seven women were deserted; there were three cases of illegal relationship. Out of the one hundred cases, there were seven inter-marriages; in two instances white men had married colored women; in five instances white women had married colored men.