Affirmative Actions

1. AffirmativeActions The Racial Politics of Celebration in Philadelphia’s Public Sphere. Annis Whitlow, MCP Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT.

2. Overview • 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)

3. Two Festivals, Two ‘Philadelphian’s W H I T E Mummers (Masqueraders), 1st of January, Broad (or Market) Street, Philadelphia Odunde! (Happy New Year!), 2nd Sunday in June, West South Street, Philadelphia B L A C K

4. 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.

5. Background: Demographics North Philadelphia Center City West Philadel-phia South Philadelphia

6. Background: Immigration • 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. Philadelphia Region Percent Foreign Born More than 10% Foreign Born Less than 5% Foreign Born

7. 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.

8. Background: Philadelphia • Pre-1854 City Boundary: Area currently known as Center City.

9. Background: Philadelphia • Pre-1854 City Boundary: Area currently known as Center City. • Axes: Broad Street

10. Background: Philadelphia • Pre-1854 City Boundary: Area currently known as Center City. • Axes: Broad Street, Market Street

11. Background: Philadelphia • Pre-1854 City Boundary: Area currently known as Center City. • Axes: Broad Street, Market Street • Boundaries: South Street

12. Background: Philadelphia • Pre-1854 City Boundary: Area currently known as Center City. • Axes: Broad Street, Market Street • Boundaries: South Street, Vine StreetExpressway.

13. Background: Philadelphia • Pre-1854 City Boundary: Area currently known as Center City. • Axes: Broad Street, Market Street • Boundaries: South Street, Vine StreetExpressway. • City Hallis located at the intersection of Broad and Market.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. Mummers Parade • Ethnicity and Racialization • Anglo vs. Other • “White” vs. Other • Political Connections • Department of Recreation • Mayoral Support • Spatial Politics • Route

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. Mummers Parade Philadelphia New Years Shooters and Mummers Association POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

20. Mummers Parade SPATIAL POLITICS • Route: • Visually and physically connects immigrant South Philly to Center City and City Hall

21. Mummers Parade SPATIAL POLITICS • Route: • Routinely adjusted according to demographic shifts Proportion of Blacks in Philadelphia Neighborhoods

22. Mummers Parade SPATIAL POLITICS • Route: • Routinely adjusted according to demographic shifts Proportion of Blacks in Philadelphia Neighborhoods

23. Mummers Parade SPATIAL POLITICS • Route: • Routinely adjusted according to demographic shifts Proportion of Blacks in Philadelphia Neighborhoods

24. 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

25. Odunde Festival • Race and Ethnicity • Black vs. White • Black vs. African • Political Connections • Mayoral Support • Spatial Politics • Route

26. 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.

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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.

30. Two Festivals, Two ‘Philadelphian’s Attendance: • 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

31. 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).

32. THANK YOU. Information in this presentation has been compiled in my Masters Thesis: The Racial Politics of Urban Celebrations: A Comparative Study of Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade and Odunde Festival