Affirmative Actions The Racial Politics of Celebration in Philadelphia’s Public Sphere. Annis...
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Transcript of Affirmative Actions The Racial Politics of Celebration in Philadelphia’s Public Sphere. Annis...
Affirmative Actions
The Racial Politics of Celebration in Philadelphia’s Public Sphere.
Annis Whitlow, MCP
Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT.
• Hypothesis: Communities use public celebrations to assert and affirm new public political identities and roles.
• Case: Philadelphia: Racial identity politics– Mummers Parade (white political identity)– Odunde Festival (Pan-African political identity)
Overview
Two Festivals, Two ‘Philadelphian’s
Mummers (Masqueraders), 1st of January, Broad (or Market) Street, Philadelphia
Odunde! (Happy New Year!), 2nd Sunday in June, West South Street, Philadelphia
W H
I T E
B L
A C
K
Background: Philadelphia
• Population: approx. 1.5 million (has been decreasing since the
1950s.
• Neighborhoods: Center City (original city boundaries), North
Philadelphia (Temple University), West Philadelphia (University
City), South Philadelphia (Mummers and Odunde).
• Demographics: 45% white, 43% black.
• Immigration: Limited flow of immigrants into the region.
• Gentrification: Has become an issue for populations living in and
around Center City.
Background: Demographics
North Philadelphia
West Philadel-phia
South Philadelphia
Center City
Background: Immigration
More than 10% Foreign Born
Less than 5% Foreign Born
Percent Foreign Born
Philadelphia Region
• Less than 10% of the population in the Philadelphia region is foreign-born.
• The city has not experienced the influx of immigrants common to many other urban areas.
Background: Gentrification
• Blocks around South Street
and the Delaware River have
shown an increase in
residential sale price of 27%
to 4964%.
• In the southwest, which is
predominantly African
American, these blocks are
adjacent to blocks where
housing value is falling
precipitously.
Background: Philadelphia
• Pre-1854 City
Boundary: Area
currently known as
Center City.
Background: Philadelphia
• Pre-1854 City
Boundary: Area
currently known as
Center City.
• Axes: Broad Street
Background: Philadelphia
• Pre-1854 City
Boundary: Area
currently known as
Center City.
• Axes: Broad Street,
Market Street
Background: Philadelphia
• Pre-1854 City
Boundary: Area
currently known as
Center City.
• Axes: Broad Street,
Market Street
• Boundaries: South
Street
Background: Philadelphia
• Pre-1854 City
Boundary: Area
currently known as
Center City.
• Axes: Broad Street,
Market Street
• Boundaries: South
Street, Vine Street
Expressway.
Background: Philadelphia
• Pre-1854 City
Boundary: Area
currently known as
Center City.
• Axes: Broad Street,
Market Street
• Boundaries: South
Street, Vine Street
Expressway.
• City Hall is located at the
intersection of Broad and
Market.
Mummers – Odunde Timeline
• Prior to the 20th Century, power in Philadelphia was
concentrated in the Anglo-Protestant upper class in
Center City.
• Blacks and working class immigrants formed
Philadelphia’s underclass.
• Early 19th c.: Immigrant Population Growth
– Violence and tension to the South and North
• After Civil War: The Great Migration
– Consolidation, rule of law
• 1901: Millennium Philadelphia
– European immigrants racialized as White, gain power.
Mummers – Odunde Timeline
• 1964: Mummers Blackface Controversy
– Blacks protest Mummers’ use of blackface
• 1975: Oshun (Odunde!) Festival Begins
– Street Festival started by Lois Fernandez
• 1990s: Philadelphia Revitalization
– Mummers moved to Market Street
– Tourism in Center City promoted
– Gentrification threatens Odunde
• Ethnic whites increased control over city politics in the 20th
century.
• Civil Rights era was an opportunity for blacks to create a
new political identity.
Mummers Parade
• Ethnicity and
Racialization
– Anglo vs. Other
– “White” vs. Other
• Political Connections
– Department of Recreation
– Mayoral Support
• Spatial Politics
– Route
Mummers Parade
ETHNICITY AND RACIALIZATION
• Anglo vs. “Other”
– During the 18th and 19th century, ethnic Yule
celebrations reviled by Philadelphian
Quakers
– Rioting against Irish Catholics.
• “White” vs. “Other”
– Late 19th and 20th century cultural practices
(boosterism, minstrelsy, Mummers parade)
tie Philadelphia’s European immigrant
communities to its Anglo community.
Mummers Parade
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS
• Department of Recreation
– Mummers have a organizational
structure within the Philadelphia
Department of Recreation
• Mayoral Support
– Mummers Parade enjoyed its greatest
support from Mayor Frank Rizzo, a
South Philadelphia generally
considered racist by the African
American community.
Mummers Parade
POLITICAL CONNECTIONSPhiladelphia New Years Shooters and Mummers Association
Mummers Parade
SPATIAL POLITICS
• Route:
– Visually and physically connects
immigrant South Philly to Center City
and City Hall
Mummers ParadeSPATIAL POLITICS
• Route:
– Routinely adjusted according to demographic shifts
Proportion of Blacks in Philadelphia Neighborhoods
Mummers Parade
SPATIAL POLITICS
• Route:
– Routinely adjusted
according to demographic
shifts
Proportion of Blacks in Philadelphia Neighborhoods
Mummers Parade
SPATIAL POLITICS
• Route:
– Routinely adjusted
according to demographic
shifts
Proportion of Blacks in Philadelphia Neighborhoods
Mummers Parade
SPATIAL POLITICS
• Route:
– Routinely adjusted
according to demographic
shifts
– Outcry against moving the
Parade to Market Street in
1990s.
– Parade moves “back to
South Philly”
Moved to Market Street in the 1990s
Odunde Festival
• Race and Ethnicity
– Black vs. White
– Black vs. African
• Political Connections
– Mayoral Support
• Spatial Politics
– Route
Odunde Festival
RACE AND ETHNICITY
• Black vs. White:
– Racial identity is inherently political
– Blacks continue to be marginalized
in Philadelphia
• Black vs. African
– Ethnic identity implies cultural ties
– Pan-African identity unites
Philadelphian blacks.
Odunde Festival
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS
• Mayoral Support
– Mayor Street is the first mayor to
participate in the procession
– As City Council President, Street
fought for the festival
Odunde Festival
SPATIAL POLITICS
• Route
– Procession starts at
Gray’s Ferry
• Heart of African American
South Philly
– Follows South Street to
the River
• Gentrified, “European-
American” Area
Odunde Festival
SPATIAL POLITICS
• Route
– No direct view to Center City
– Articulated as a response to
gentrification and
demographic changes.
– Street vendors extend as
down South and Gray’s
Ferry.
Two Festivals, Two ‘Philadelphian’sAttendance:
• Odunde:
– up to 300,000+
– Predominantly African American street presence
• Mummers:
– has been 300,000; now closer to 100,000 or less
– South Philadelphia street presence:
• Smaller, more diverse
– Center City:
• Larger, predominantly white
Other Issues
INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION
• Information on African American historical
perspectives in Philadelphia is less widely available
than that on European American perspectives.
• E.g: Blackface Controversy:
– White/Mummers Perspective Recorded in 1 book, 4
dissertations
• Book available from 146 libraries worldwide (in 32 states
and Canada)
– Black Perspective Recorded in 1 book
• Book available in 13 libraries worldwide (in 7 states).
THANK YOU.
Information in this presentation has beencompiled in my Masters Thesis:
The Racial Politics of Urban Celebrations: A Comparative Studyof Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade and Odunde Festival