Black Moderates: Robert R. Church

In the course of the years between 1877 and 1899, Robert R. Church’s, the first black millionaire, actions made a profound impact on what it meant to be a part of black elite during the transitional time between Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era. Church serves as an example of upward mobility for black people during late nineteenth century Memphis. Church represents the possibility of black people becoming financially well off during this time period in which African Americans were seen as second-class citizens. Although Church pushed back against Jim Crow laws by advertising to black people and creating a space for the black community, he also struggled with complying to the institution of racism, which is evident through his contribution to Confederate Hall and his rejection of mixed marriages. 

In reality, Church’s attitudes and behavior is indicative to his political climate of the country at the time. Booker T. Washington’s 1895 Atlanta Compromise Speech speaks volumes about the mentality of the black elite through his metaphor, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” What Washington calls for African Americans to comply to the idea of “separate but equal,” because this oppressed population has supposedly been given a fortunate situation in comparison to their previous predicament of slavery. Although in current terms, Washington’s statement seems extremely conservative, he was known to be a radically liberal figure in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Given this context, Church’s plight with upward mobility wass suggestive of the Jim Crow South’s push towards systematic racism. Although Church himself complied with the idea of “separate but equal,” he still advanced the black community by providing them resources that were originally available to only white people. 

Church as a figure is reminiscent of the black moderate populate during the twentieth century, such as groups like the NAACP and SCLC that attempted to work alongside white leadership in order to advance the African American social position. However, figures much like Church largely hindered the livelihoods of lower class black people by excluding this group of people from progress.