Hi all,
I'm working on a book set in Louisiana during the 1920s. The premise is that a (white) woman (Beatrice) makes a deal with the Devil (Frank) to save her sister's life.
There's a scene where Beatrice goes to a bar to listen to the "new" jazz music. This scene is important because it's where she meets her love interest, Angelo, a (black) musician.
Now, since it's in the South during the 20s, segregation was legal. However, I found this link that mentions there was at least one "black-and-tan" club in New Orleans where integration was "tolerated" by police, so bribes. Lots and lots of bribes.
So here's what I'm thinking. The Sheriff owns the property outright at first. Frank comes along and buys it off of him and pays him to look the other way for a "liquor license" and for letting black folks and white folks mix.
So either, at the beginning, the bar is mostly black, in which case two white chicks waltzing in is going to create a stir ("White customers may have been seen as intruders by other customers" )
or the bar is mostly white, and Frank bringing in a black band is going to create a stir since it's a relatively small town. For the book's trajectory, Frank is going to make a stir in town either way because he's letting people mix, which the Powers that Be cannot tolerate.
My question is which is more historically accurate/likely--that white ppl invade a black space or Frank somehow convinces white customers to tolerate black customers in their midst?
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your creative project, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists and the like, based on past experience: some people working on creative projects have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
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