Race Separation in Carnival is a Mutually Agreed Upon Status Quo for Mobile!
Monday, December 28, 2009 …………….Mobile, Alabama It is a real art form reading people. The expressions on their faces, some of the unspoken words which by their very absence have implied meanings. Southerners practice this art everyday, and if you want a good laugh, try reading Northerners, Westerners or for that matter, anyone not from today’s south when they speak in an attempt to summarize and give their opinions on some of the southern traditions of Mardi Gras.
When it comes to Mobile, people who aren’t African American or any person who did not live in the south, could be initially repelled by the way locals accept what would be totally unacceptable, in another part of the country. With the simple phrase, of “that’s just the way it is here…”, the accepting attitude some people in today’s south exhibit, concerning Mobile’s celebration of Mardi Gras, would turn their stomach. The phrase gnaws at you, until you hate to hear it! This accepting attitude of don’t rock the boat, or “be quite and go along”, is what people of other regions may perceive as a throwback to the days of Jim Crow and worse. They are repugnant to anyone with the will & heart to resist, overturn, to erase from this earth, this sort of treatment, this sort of thinking. Indeed, most upright, free thinking, morally upstanding people labor hard everyday to fight our inner demons, catch the phrases, the bad jokes, and the crazy behavior patterns that extend the racist agenda even another hour.
Yes, for sure, some ( in fact an awful lot of you) are not going to like this situation when you first encounter it, mostly because many don’t understand the history, the people, and even some non-verbal agreements that are in place for what some think are detrimental behavior to both races. This is not to say everyone will understand this truce, but once you hear both sides of it, maybe, just maybe, you can agree that there are genuine reasons to pause before tampering with these traditions which are done every year, as a societal duty, and something tens of thousands of people seriously do not comprehend.
When people travel to the fair southern city of Mobile, Alabama, they are not given the cultural debriefing they should have. As any African American who has totally experienced the south in all of it’s glorious heritage can tell you, when you enter this type of climate, your gears change. The reputation of “southern pride & heritage” places all your inner most senses on high alert! The very act of simply entering the city, causes them to give a lot of thought to what this place represents and how they should conduct themselves while they are here. Whites are simply unaware of any difference what-so-ever rolling into Mobile. It is just another medium sized American city to them. Most give very little thought to it, while others look back on the city’s past with fond memories. In either case, what many think is inexorably linked to what race you are, how much money you have and whom you know in the immediate region.
Those three factors will also determine to what degree you will enjoy the upcoming holiday of Mardi Gras. Again depending on your economic status, your race, and whom you know, you may be afforded some leisurely explanation as to why you can or can not attend some of the many balls and gatherings of the Carnival season.
Many mixed race couples have come here, only to find out that one half of the couple, could go to an event, while the other half could not! If you are African American in Mobile you are given a list of do’s & don’ts of the season and what is expected of you. You are told what balls, parties and gatherings you can and can not go to and why. You are expected to follow the rules as laid down and not to deviate from that. You are expected to go along with the program and enjoy Carnival, with your people.
If you are white, loaded, and connected, you will be given the full tradition of the season and you will also get completely unfettered freedom to attend any ball, any parade, or any gathering you wish. You are only limited by your economic status, and your family social pedigree in how you can participate or whom you can access or interact with.
A recent article by a visiting academia member brings home the point, to what level people willing to believe the locals and their take on things, while they are here in Mobile.
” We were fortunate to receive a personal tour of the Museum by Mr. Wilbur Pittman, the article reads, “a gentleman with over a half-century’s involvement with Mardi Gras ritual. Mr. Pittman explained the intricacies of the dizzyingly elaborate gowns and trains on display–the trappings of Mobilian royalty–and showed us how this city’s society really works. Mardi Gras kings and queens tend to beget future kings and queens. It is an insider’s game of power and old money, and revealingly, the Mardi Gras societies are still clearly separated by race.”
” The Mobile Carnival Association is white, while the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association remains an exclusively African-American organization. Both groups elect each year their own kings and queens. While Mr. Pittman stressed the harmonious relations between the two organizations ( MAMGA has been repeatedly invited to fold itself into the MCA, but prefers to retain its autonomy), the social segregation remains. Although social institutions can be equally segregated in Yankee climes, Northerners are uncomfortable with such a codified separation. I suppose the Carnival racial divide is similar in New Orleans.” by Dr. John Eipper, Associate Professor, Modern Languages, Adrian College ( he can be reached at jeipper@adrian.edu or 517-265-5161, X3865 he is an expert in cultures & social behavior with a Ph.D., University of Michigan)
Carnivale’ or Mardi Gras is really entrenched on the U.S. Gulf coast as a unique “southern” tradition , but only to people who truly understand what the “Southern” feel of the holiday truly about.
Carnival Society in Mobile and indeed the south as a whole remains basically unchanged over the past 158 years. In Mobile, Alabama (where the southern tradition is currently the strongest) the tradition is more about maintaining control over any city by the power elite, than about separation of the races. Even whites who are not economically endowed, or socially connected can find Mardi Gras a bit too taxing for their own taste, in some circles.
The real tradition calls for the initiation and introduction of a new generation of Mobilians dedicated to keeping the status quo intact. It is only these “elite citizens”, born or married into these families of privilege who will ascend to the thrones of power and prestige! They are to be presented to the city, and properly groomed to become King or Queen of Mobile’s Carnival!
When you look deeply at the holiday, it’s practices, it’s accessories, and the people who really get into it, you began to see that race really is only one tool concocted for use by the power elites to exclude an entire class of people from enjoying the freedoms of rank, education and privilege. This doesn’t only apply to race, but to economic levels, to educational levels, to avenues of access to powerful people, and more.
The Mardi Gras holiday is a living lab on the effects of absolute power overwhelmingly dominating a people absolutely. It’s lessons in how to equalize the pressure points of power should be learned, and preserved for future generations. Sometimes the status-quo, if upset can be a real detriment to the social fabric of a city or state, even a country.
It may look bad for Mobile and other cities to engage in such obviously self serving celebrations that some argue are better left in the past, or cleaned-up, or forgotten. To paraphrase a quote, “Those who forget the lessons of the past, are doomed to repeat it.” This holiday and all its lessons are not lost on those of us with the mind’s eye to see!
Even though the MCA did indeed invite MAMGA to fold itself into their organization, MAMGA realizes that to do so would negatively upset the fragile status quo and spell certain doom to the idea of a city level Black King and Queen in Mobile. Only by keeping separate clubs can the city have this balance preserved and take the slower path towards reconciliation. It is this formula that forces MAMGA to maintain it’s current status as an Organization unto itself. The Staus quo is preserved by mutual agreement because it places on display the real reason, America has no royal family.
Let’s not be in such an all fired hurry to dismantle this living lab, because it does teach us lessons in real time that otherwise might not have been passed down. That bad taste in your mouth, the feeling of alertness, that gnawing hatred of complacency, that’s progress my friend! History’s lessons being learned!
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