Post on 13-Jan-2016
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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