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Souhail Chakri

Robert Chiles

HIST201 (206)

November 14, 2023

The automobile’s role for African Americans leading to the Civil Rights Revolution

Automobiles changed the way most Americans travelled, but it changed the life of all  African Americans. The automobile was merely a new method of transport of most  Americans; it was quick, convenient, and opened up new paths unreachable before. Leading  up to the Great Depression owning an automobile was not commonplace for African  Americans, as time grew on it become more obtainable for the average man and his family to  own one or more. To African Americans it transformed the way they travel, getting behind  the wheel was in a way, an equalizer, allowing many to avoid the trials and tribulations often  met when using public transport. With a safe and quick method of transportation, the  automobile paved the way for Civil Rights activists spreading their method and ideology  avoiding the harassment that was associated with riding on public transport.  

Supreme Court Case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) famously established the “equal but  separate” doctrine that allowed for segregated spaces for blacks and whites, so long as the  spaces were separate facilities and deemed equal. This ruling stood for nearly 60 years and  set the tone for how African Americans were treated. Schools, transportation, restaurants,  housing, restrooms, parks, theatres, hospitals, employment, and far more were victims to  segregation. Though supposedly meant to be “equal” these segregated spaces were often far  worse in comparison to their white counterparts. Hospitals and ambulances are by far one of  the worst examples of segregation that has inadvertently led to the death of thousands if not  hundreds of thousands of African Americans. “When the doctors and nurses discovered their

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mistake—that they had “put a nigger in the white ward”—the staff could not remove him fast  enough. Walter White described his father being “snatched from the examination table lest he  contaminate the ‘white’ air.” Still unconscious, he was put out of the Henry W. Grady white  ward in the pouring rain, despite his serious injuries, and carried to the Negro ward across the  street.”1 Such treatment is unfathomable to think of. This instance should be considered  murder, unfortunately this is just one of many cases revealing an environment where  treatment was segregated and unequal. Despite the forward momentum the automobile  brought for African Americans there was still much work to be done.

Transportation without an automobile for African Americans could be a traumatizing  experience one would avoid if possible, the idea of travelling for leisure was unheard of.  Consequently, segregated trains and buses were the only options for an African American  without a car as their means of travel. A Jim Crow car as they would call it, was the  segregated train car for African Americans that they could ride. The experience one would  find on a Jim Crow car or segregated bus varied drastically from region to region. In some  regions W. E. B. Du Bois found a rather pleasant experience as an African American riding  in a segregated car. “From Hamlet to Charlotte in North Carolina, however, a trip of seventy  miles, he rode in ‘a miserably dirty car which any decent State Board of Health would have  condemned.’”2 Though in regions typically more southern one would find grimy, soot ridden  cars that no human should be riding in. The way African Americans got around was due for  a much-needed development, something to give them that sense of agency denied before.  

 The automobile unlocked a new life to African Americans. Whilst it was an amazing,  new method of transportation for most white Americans; for African Americans it brought  

1 Sorin, Gretchen Sullivan. Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights. Firsted.  New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, 2020., 125 2 Sorin, Driving While Black, 47

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security, employment, mobility, and education, most importantly it brought independence. It  was freedom unlike never seen before, no one could hurl slurs towards them as they zipped  past on street, one could hardly even tell the race of the driver. It was in the best interest for  every African American to own an automobile, it allowed for the freedom to travel anywhere  whenever on their call. It revolutionized the way businessmen and performers got from  meeting to meeting and show to show. They could avoid the humiliation and risk that often  occurred when using any form of public transportation.  

With a new form of transportation that African Americans could travel with and time  and money that could be spent on leisurely activities, the American road trip was born.  African Americans that wouldn’t dare travel for leisure now had the newfound confidence to  do so, but it wasn’t quite that simple like one would be able to do so today. Meticulous  planning and precautions must be taken for a safe African American road trip. This required  finding gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and public accommodations that would willingly  serve African Americans to avoid hostile confrontations. Successful road trip planning  required weeks of time and effort to making reservations and sending out inquiries about the  area. Failing to do such planning and you could quite literally take a wrong turn for the  worse, “Like most black families, the Holloways wanted to stay on the main highways, but  they made a wrong turn somewhere near Waco, Texas, and got lost on back roads. Winding  up in an unfamiliar town just as the sun set, they were stunned to find themselves driving  slowly into the middle of a lynching. The crowd’s racist frenzy rose to a climax as they lit the  black victim on fire. The man screamed in agony, his body contorted, and the smell of his  burning flesh filled the air.”3 Thankfully for the Holloway’s the freedom of the automobile  

3 Sorin, Driving While Black, 121

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allowed them to successfully escape and avoid joining the man in such peril. Had the family  not been in their vehicle, one can only imagine the horrors that would have followed.

With an ever-growing desire for travel, African Americans needed a way to find safe  accommodations as they traveled throughout the country. Inspired by travel guides previously  published for Jewish audiences, Victor H. Green was an entrepreneur from Harlem with a  goal to make travel easy and stress-free for African Americans. In his guide The Green Book  not only did Green and his team of writers find and list hotels, restaurants, and sights safe for  black travelers but gave advice as well such as areas to avoid especially past dusk. Green as  the astute businessman he was managed to partner with Standard Oil Company, landing The  Green Book in Esso gas stations across the nation (Esso Gas Stations already being a popular  choice for African Americans since they were able to use their restrooms). This was the start  of an ever-growing market that catered towards the black traveler all due to the automobile,  all of which would end up with more businesses opening their doors to African American  consumers.  

By 1944 it was predicted that African American aggregate income would reach $10.5  billion, eventually companies started to realize this was an untapped market. African  Americans have already played a large part in advertising and marketing beforehand, but  often used derogatorily towards white people. This would not be a successful method any  longer, “A 1943 article entitled “Don’t Do This—If You Want to Sell Your Products to  Negroes” advised corporate advertisers that they had to avoid “exaggerating Negro features”  and should treat black people with respect. “Refrain from referring to every black man as  ‘George,’”4 and avoid using the Uncle Mose and Aunt Jemima stereotypes, Sullivan  cautioned. The article also recommended that white people forgo the use of blackface  

4 Sorin, Driving While Black, 179

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makeup and use real “brown-skinned” people in advertisements rather than white people in  blackface.”. It was a paradigm shift in the way that corporate america would view African  Americans, they too had desires and was a market worth catering towards

The automobile and The Green Book in the Civil Rights Movement offered safety and  refuge for demonstrators and black leaders. Although private individuals and churches  primarily provided food, lodging, and a safe area for meetings due to the risk of a business  outwardly supporting the civil rights movement. Hotel and motels from The Green Book still  contributed and had a major role within the Civil Rights Movement, the Gaston Motel  provided a headquarters space for Martin Luther King Jr. and protestors from out of town.  Though with publicly supporting Civil Rights Activists this brought these businesses into  harm’s way, often a target for The Klan. “After their departure, a bomb was hurled directly at  Room 30, reducing it to rubble. The Klan had made an attempt on the lives of the civil rights  workers. If anyone had been in the room, the bomb would have killed its occupants. Almost  simultaneously, a second bomb exploded on the front porch of the Birmingham house owned  by A. D. King, Martin’s brother. ”5 Their support in lieu of the uproar of the white  community allowed the activists and protestors to continue their push forward in the Civil  Rights Movement.  

The automobile was an essential piece to the Civil Rights Revolution and how it  transformed the life of African Americans. The automobile brought security, employment,  mobility, education, and independence at a time when it was needed most. The automobile  was the foundation that built the Civil Rights Movement.  

5 Sorin, Driving While Black, 226