s against 116 per cent for whites, while the proportion of
white tenants increased. The other property of the negro can only be
estimated, as most States do not list the races separately. The census
for 1910 reports 430,449 homes, rural and urban, owned by negroes, and of
these 314,340 were free of encumbrance, compared with a total of 327,537
homes in 1900, of which 229,158 were free. Further discussion of the
part of the negro in agriculture will be found in another chapter.]

Speaking broadly, the right of the negro to work at any sort of manual
or mechanical labor is not questioned in the South. Negroes and whites
work together on the farm, and a negro may rent land almost anywhere. In
thousands of villages and towns one may see negro plumbers, carpenters,
and masons working by the side of white men. A negro shoemaker or
blacksmith may get the patronage of whites at his own shop or may share
a shop with a white man. White and negro teamsters are employed
indiscriminately. Hundreds of negroes serve as firemen or as engineers
of stationary steam engines. Thousands work in the tobacco factories.
Practically the only distinction made is this: a negro man may work with
white men indoors or out, but he may not work indoors by the side of
white women except in some subordinate capacity, as porter or waiter.
Occasionally he works with white women out of doors. Lack of economic
success therefore cannot be charged entirely or even primarily to racial
discrimination. Where the negro often fails is in lack of reliability,
regularity, and faithfulness. In some occupations he is losing ground. Not
many years ago barbers, waiters, and hotel employees in the South usually
were negroes, but they have lost their monopoly in all these occupations.
White men are taking their place as barbers and white girls now often
serve in dining-rooms and on elevators. On the other hand, the number of
negro seamstresses seems to be increasing. A generation ago, many
locomotive firemen were negroes, but now the proportion is decreasing.
There are hundreds, even thousands, of negro draymen who own teams, and
some of them have become prosperous.

White patronage of negroes in business depends partly upon custom and
partly upon locality. Negroes who keep livery stables and occasionally
garages receive white patronage. In nearly every community there is a
negro woman who bakes cakes for special occasions. Many negroes act as
caterers or keep restaurants