Hobby Lobby and the Return of the ‘Negro Travelers’ Green Book’
More: Hobby Lobby and the Return of the ‘Negro Travelers’ Green Book’
Victor Green loved to travel. Being a mail carrier in the mid-20th century was a good, solid job, and the heyday of the American automobile was just beginning. Americans felt more mobile than ever before, especially once Eisenhower’s interstate highway system expanded like a web through the country. The freedom of the open road beckoned.
But Victor did not feel particularly free. As an African American, much of the nation was closed off to him and his family. Hotels rented rooms only to whites; restaurants wouldn’t take his money; shops and markets kept their doors shut. Jim Crow was everywhere.
So he wrote the first travel guide for African Americans, listing restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and even private homes that would aid the “Negro Traveler.” Known as The Green Book, it was an essential part of African American life for more than 20 years. By 1952, it had expanded its listings to include barbershops, bars, and nightclubs.
Such a guide was essential, since each particular business in America could decide for itself whether to discriminate. White travelers were fine, of course. “The White traveler has had no difficulty in getting accommodations, but with the Negro it has been different,” said the 1956 edition.
Green always believed his book to be only a temporary fix. In the 1949 edition, he stated his hope that “There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published … when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States. It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication for then we can go wherever we please.”
That day came with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, requiring businesses to open their doors to all comers. But the need for the Green Book did not become truly obsolete until the Supreme Court upheld the application of the Act to the Birmingham barbecue joint known as Ollie’s. Run by the McClung family, active in their local Presbyterian church, Ollie’s had long forced black customers to “go ‘round back” for their ribs and brisket.
Because the federal government had stepped in to guarantee that businesses of all kinds and sizes could not discriminate, people were truly free to travel. The Green Book became obsolete.
After Tuesday’s arguments at the Supreme Court, we may need to dust off the Green Book and indeed initiate new editions for women, LGBT people, Muslims, and Jews.
