Contrary to popular belief this group of individuals who would form the black middle class, believed in both racial solidarity and class distinction. The attitude of the Charlotesville's black upperclass is best expressed by the words of one black girl interviewed by Marjorie Irwin(white) in Phelps-Stokes Fellowship Papers in 1929, "we feel sorry for them [black lowerclass] and want to help them but we don't want a nything to do with them any more than you want to have anything to do with your lower class." However it would be unfair to characterize this black middle class as strictly partonizing to the black lowerclass. Through organizations such as the State Fede ration of Colored Women's Clubs and the black churches in the area they provided substantial assistance in the form of grocery payments and housing. Prominent black Charlottesville residents included George Inges, Ray Bell, Rebecca McGinnis, George Ferguson, and Michael S. Gleason.
Following the end of the Civil War, local and federal government agencies left the newly freed slaves without any support. These people, though primarily men, formed numerous types of businesses characterized best by a structure defined in a 1899 Atlanta University study The Negro In Business. This study headed by W.E.B Dubois defined the following structure based on the former slave occupations:
It is notable however that the study does not include those professions typically headed by women such as nursing nor does it include the ministry as many blacks chose this field.
These black business owners formed the heart of the black middle class from 1920 on. However, the creation of their own businesses did not provide instant wealth or acceptance for these black business persons. Prior to 1880, their business operation was not necessarily linked to an ideology of racial development. Only the further institutionalization of racism and discrimination during the subsequent Jim Crow era redirected their energies towards serving the community. Rather than entering into business based on manual labor considered undesirable by whites these black owners entered into new white-collar businesses providing services to the black community that were no longer obtainable from whites.
Creating these new businesses required these black business owners to overcome numerous difficulties. Black owners had to overcome the inability to raise capital from white lending institutions. Often black business owners were forced to accept inte rest rates as high as 25%. Additionally their lack of capital made it necessary for them to hire people solely on commission, a highly unattractive practice for hard-working employees. Black business owners were also often charged higher rents than whit e business owners thereby substantially raising their operating cost.
Although left without support after being declared free persons after the Civil War and facing intensifying racial hatred, black business owners were in many cases overcome these hardships. There was a significant price to pay the turnover rate for bl ack business even in Charlottesville was substantial. And after the 1960's many black business districts like Vinegar Hill were sites of urban renewal initiatives and were demolished. Despite these detractors, the story of black business and black busine ss owners is one of community based on race and class bounded together against a precarious social situation.
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