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Interzones: Black/White Sex Districts in Chicago and New York in the Early Twentieth Century ReviewNowadays, most of us would assume some (and I stress, some) people may turn up their noses to interracial couplings or encourage their children not to partake of it, Little would most of us realize that the government and various police departments were actively engaged in keeping people of different races from getting sexually or romantically involved with each other. Well, just like now, the couple that reaps the greatest wrath is that of a black man and a white woman. Here, Dr. Mumford shows that in the 1920s, demarcated areas of large cities became places where the races mixed surreptitiously, just as others would drink alcohol during Prohibition or engage in any other stigmatized practice.
I enjoyed hearing of my hometown of Chicago in the same breath as New York City. Usually, academics focus on the latter and forget the former. This book was a breath of fresh air which reminded me that there was a long period when Chi-Town was the Second City. Dr. Mumford states that other cities, such as Cleveland and Detroit, had interzones. Graduate students in those localities may want to use this book to write their own specific research in this area.
Even though this book covers sexual activities, it is far from sexy and that will disappoint many. This text does not give juicy accounts of people from 100 years ago talking about their own interracial sex lives. Instead, it is filled with quotes from police investigators discussing this activity. If you got a kick out of seeing the film "Mandingo" or reading about Malcolm Little's exploits "across the color line," you will find nothing that titillating here.
Dr. Mumford asserts that anti-vice advocates suppressed white prostitution and thus prostitution became a whiteman-blackwoman activity. This is not surprising since this sexual coupling was common before the Emancipation Proclamation. However, there are many racist people that would not hold company with blacks. Dr. Mumford suggests that white clients were more than happy to contract black prostitutes, but I imagine that in the pre-Civil Rights era, many clients would have said, "If I can't get a white woman, then I don't want anybody at all." Dr. Mumford mentions that the Cotton Club had black entertainers and white audiences, but refused to allow black audiences inside. I wonder if the same dynamic happened in these interzones. Did white men go to brothels in black neighborhoods, but still in pursuit of white sex workers?
Dr. Mumford actually discuss venues where Asian men danced with white women before talking of black-white couplings. Thus, he breaks the black-white binary that many Latino and Asian academics lament. However, he never mentions whether these brideless Asian men could have or tried to connect with African-American women. Other academics have noted that in California Asian Indian men married Mexicanas when their were no Asian women around to marry. Did the same thing happen in Chicago and NYC? Why does the author ignore the potential dynamic between groups of color?
Dr. Mumford states that he is biracial and wants this book to be a source of strength for other biracial persons in America. While an admirable goal, I highly doubt this book would make biracial readers happy because it says nothing about happy mixed couples raising children with positive identities in a supportive community. This book was all about authorities trying to break up mixed couples and mixed couples usually getting together for X-rated activities or failing to be allowed to marry. While we grow from learning the tragedies of the past, reading of that past can be a bitter pill to swallow.
Dr. Mumford includes a chapter on gay dynamics in these interzones. Gay studies enthusiasts may really want to peep this chapter. Dr. Mumford cites John D'Emilio, Jeffrey Weeks, and other gay studies experts. It truly shows how their founding work has influenced many aspects of the study of sexuality. Still, I found the gay chapter to be a bit cluttered.
The back cover states that Dr. Mumford is an independent scholar who lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Any college should jump at the chance to hire this author, especially UW at Madison, given it lack of racial diversity and its controversies surrounding it. They would be foolish not to hire him for a tenure-track position immediately. In fact, any college in or around New York City or Chicago would greatly benefit by having such a rigorous and promising scholar in their history department. A guy this sharp who can write a book this strong should not be just floating out in the wind.
Dr. Mumford's book mostly move chronologically, then, near the end of the book, he mentions "Birth of a Nation," a film made in 1915, not the Roaring Twenties. This non-linear move doesn't make sense. I also thought the conclusory chapter was irrelevant. Dr. Mumford moves from police reports to theater to more police reports to a film. This vacillating between life and art may bother some readers, especially hardcore historians. However, since I think art influences life and culture heavily, I did not have a problem with it.
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