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Black Life in the Sacramento Valley (1919-1934) (36 pages)
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Page: of 36
Black Life in the Sacramento Valley Page 13 of 37
Marysville was a little smaller than Chico but had triple its black population. Just outside of Marysville
was the Smith ranch, owned by a prominent black family of that name, who had about 40 acres along
the Feather River. It was the site for an annual Fourth of July picnic. They would have a barbecue out on
the beach, and blacks from all over Northern California would gather to swim, play games, eat and have
a good time.
After the picnic, there would be a dance in a rented hall in Marysville. If blacks did not have a friend or
relative to stay with, they were out of luck. The one good white-owned hotel in town would not cater to
them. The Japanese operated one inn, which was always clean and served blacks, and both the Japanese
and the Chinese operated eating houses where blacks could get good meals.
In the 1920s, Jim Crow practices still existed in some public accommodations throughout California,
such as certain hotels and restaurants. Unlike in the South, where the police power of the state was used
to enforce discrimination, it was not official in California.
In most cities in the state, you couldn't get a room in the better hotels; you'd have to stay in the fleabags
in the lower end of town. The best hotel in Chico was the Hotel Oaks. But blacks couldn't rent a room
there. It wouldn't even hire black chambermaids.
All over California, one never knew what to expect if one was black and entered a white-owned eating
place. Most of the time, restaurants that catered to middleand upper-class whites would not serve
blacks. Some places in San Francisco and Oakland refused to serve blacks as late as the 1960s.
When I would talk to the white kids at school in Chico, I'd find out about all the things they could enjoy
that I couldn't. Chico had a fancy soda fountain called Price's, where all the students went after school.
But they wouldn't let blacks in. They had a sign in the window: "We have the right to refuse service to
anyone.” And blacks all knew what it meant. If you went in, the waiter would say, "Didn't you read that
sign?"
I didn't like it at all. And some of the whites that I went around with resented it. If I were with them,
they would tell people off and say they weren't going in there if I couldn't go in too.
There was another soda fountain in Chico that looked just as good as Price's, owned by two guys from
Greece. Everybody called it Greek's. We could go in there and get the same things. The owners were
always nice to us. They must have been first generation, because they spoke with a very heavy accent.
It didn't make too much difference to me if I couldn't stay at the Hotel Oaks or eat at Price's, because I
didn't have the money to go into those places anyway. But I just didn't like the idea of being stigmatized
in that manner. It was a hell of a lousy way to live, to have that staying with you all the time.
I knew Price well-used to talk to him out on the street. Other than his policy, I always found him to be a
very pleasant fellow. But I think he was suffering from the same disease as a lot of people who practice
discrimination: he thought it was good business, that's all.
http://www.cmonline.com/boson/freebies/blackhistory/fleming2.html 12/28/04