Slavery In The 19th Century

Slavery was abolished in 1865, but many racial prejudices still exist today, as they did in 1900. 19th Century Galveston was relatively racially accepting. It is noted in the book that “Blacks, whites, Jews, and immigrants lived and worked side by side with an astonishing degree of mutual tolerance.” (Pg. 67). Because of the Negro Longshoremen’s Association, Galveston’s wharves were controlled by its black population. In general, Galveston’s black population luxuriated in a much higher standard of living than most of their race across the country. However, not everybody shared the camaraderie. Louisa Rollfing met her first black man in Louisiana, before she moved to Galveston, and was terrified. She honestly expected the man to kill her, and was astonished when he continued on without harming a
hair on her head.
Of all the things the storm destroyed, it seems to have also taken away whatever was giving Galveston such uncommon harmony. After the storm hit, soldiers gathered 50 black men at gunpoint and appointed them the horrific task of tying weights to the thousands of corpses and throwing them into the ocean. Black people were also accused of stealing jewelry off of dead bodies. While I'm sure looters were having a field day with the many rich corpses that littered the streets, I doubt they were all black and I doubt they were “chewing off fingers to gain access to diamond rings, then stuffing the fingers in their pockets.” (Pg. 242) or “holding orgies over the dead” as an Alabaman newspaper suggested. I found two pretty alarming examples of sexism in the book. The first is one of the rules of Galveston’s Garden Club, a luxurious beauty spot that included tennis courts, a dance pavilion, even a small zoo. The rule was that women weren't allowed
to wear makeup such as lipstick or blush, or smoke. In the book, they also noted how it was an age where women couldn't smoke and men couldn't cry. At first when I read this it sounded ridiculous, but as I thought about it I realized this is somewhat similar to our expectations today. There's still some sort of taboo over males crying to this day. I also hear a lot of guys say that they “prefer women without makeup” or “prefer the natural look” and this is similar to how women weren't allowed to wear makeup that would make it appear that they did. I think people then, and now, view heavy makeup as inappropriate or scandalous, but I think it's a sign of confidence and that can be intimidating for some, especially in the 19th Century. The other sexist anecdote I found was the reaction to womens’ distress about the bad weather. When people started noticing the uneasy skies and quickly flooding streets, many worried wives called their husbands at work to tell them to come home. Instead of viewing this as the reasonable request of a worried and rational loved one, most of the men scoffed and joked about the emotions of women. There was water flooding the streets up to people's waists and many men dismissed it as a wife’s needless worrying. One man even came home, in the midst of one of the worst hurricanes this country has seen, and was disappointed that his wife hadn't made dinner. Then and now, many men invalidate a women’s judgement simply because we aren't men and as illustrated in the book, it's quite ridiculous.