beauty, built up in the fine arts, have excluded her almost
entirely. Instead, the grotesque Aunt Jemimas of the street-car advertisements, proclaim only an ability to serve, without
grace of loveliness. Nor does the drama catch her finest spirit.
She is most often used to provoke the mirthless laugh of
ridicule; or to portray feminine viciousness or vulgarity not
peculiar to Negroes. This is the shadow over her. To a race
naturally sunny comes the twilight of self-doubt and a sense
of personal inferiority. It cannot be denied that these are
potent and detrimental influences, though not generally recognized because they are in the realm of the mental and spiritual. More apparent are the economic handicaps which follow
her recent entrance into industry. It is conceded that she has
special difficulties because of the poor working conditions and
low wages of her men. It is not surprising that only the most
determined women forge ahead to results other than mere
survival. To the gifted, the zest of meeting a challenge is a
compensating factor which often brings success. The few
who do prove their mettle, stimulate one to a closer study of
how this achievement is won under contemporary conditions.
Better to visualize the Negro woman at her job, our vision
of a host of individuals must once more resolve itself into
groups on the basis of activity. First, comes a very small
leisure group—the wives and daughters of men who are in
business, in the professions and a few well-paid personal service
occupations. Second, a most active and progressive group, the
women in business and the professions. Third, the many
women in the trades and industry. Fourth, a group weighty
in numbers struggling on in domestic service, with an even less
fortunate fringe of casual workers, fluctuating with the economic temper of the times.
The first is a pleasing group to see. It is picked for outward beauty by Negro men with much the same feeling as other Americans of the same economic class. Keeping their women free to preside over the family, these women are affected by the problems of every wife and mother, but touched only faintly by their race's hardships. They do share acutely in the prevailing difficulty of finding competent household help.
