Women - Migrant Domestic Workers con't

The Life of Migrant Domestic Workers, Culturally Investigated (continued)

As part of young, rural southern women's training and development, many considered it necessary that they learn a few elements crucial to domestic work. Becoming familiar with all facets of childcare and maintaining a house was essential. Next came the training period with a white family in a nearby community. Finally, after this training period, she was to work alone, for a white employer. For many young women, part of this process entailed moving to a northern city, to help relatives care for children as they performed domestic work.
Many women cite the process of migration as freeing. Velma Davis explained, "When you got on the train….you felt different! Seem like you been bound up, but now this train untied you. It's funny….like being untied and tickled at the same time!" (Velma Davis, as cited in Clark-Lewis 201). Clark-Lewis points out that, for rural Southerners, the process of sending women north to aid family survival continued the "survival/support culture" of the South (Clark-Lewis 202).
In many cases of migration, urban family connections served a crucial function. Urban family members helped pay travel expenses and helped find the job for the woman migrating north. Young female migrants, after having established themselves in the north, often faced the position of having to help support both their urban and rural connections.
Female migrants also encountered a domestic work environment largely different from that to which they had grown accustomed in the South. While in the South tasks simply had been assigned to them, domestic work in the north required workers to report to the wife of the household. This contributed to a gendered, dichotomized work environment that emphasized the differences in class and race between black and white women. Velma Davis, living with and working for a Chevy Chase, MD family, explained the power structures inherent in live-in domestic work situations in the North:

She knew you was from down home, working to help them survive,
so, that woman just plain ran us to death! People from up here could
leave, so she'd be more careful with all them 'cause they'd quit on
her. But for me it was a job that kept me up here….it wasn't hard
like the field jobs….and I could keep money going home. It was a
for sure help-a blessing. (Velma Davis, as cited in Clark-Lewis 203).

Female migrants from the South not only encountered the racism and class issues tied to working as domestics but also the discrimination of employers who, biased against migrants, treated them with less respect.
For these women, a life of domestic service tarnished images of the lives they envisioned. Receiving little respect from white wives in the household and physically isolated from other African-Americans, many women sought ways to improve the quality of their jobs as domestic workers. Despite the negative aspects of their jobs, such as the required uniforms that symbolized their position of long-term service, many women decided to keep their jobs. Doing so, however, necessitated the creation of organizations such as "penny savers clubs," which sponsored social events and provided benefits to members (Clark-Lewis 203-204). These clubs, along with churches, played an significant role in encouraging women to seek change. The penny savers clubs enabled female migrants to save over a period of a few years, to acquire sufficient funds to leave the field of domestic service in search of a less binding form of employment.


The Life of Migrant Domestic Workers, Culturally Investigated (continued)



As part of young, rural southern women's training and development, many considered it necessary that they learn a few elements crucial to domestic work. Becoming familiar with all facets of childcare and maintaining a house was essential. Next came the training period with a white family in a nearby community. Finally, after this training period, she was to work alone, for a white employer. For many young women, part of this process entailed moving to a northern city, to help relatives care for children as they performed domestic work. Many women cite the process of migration as freeing. Velma Davis explained, "When you got on the train….you felt different! Seem like you been bound up, but now this train untied you. It's funny….like being untied and tickled at the same time!" (Velma Davis, as cited in Clark-Lewis 201). Clark-Lewis points out that, for rural Southerners, the process of sending women north to aid family survival continued the "survival/support culture" of the South (Clark-Lewis 202). In many cases of migration, urban family connections served a crucial function. Urban family members helped pay travel expenses and helped find the job for the woman migrating north. Young female migrants, after having established themselves in the north, often faced the position of having to help support both their urban and rural connections. Female migrants also encountered a domestic work environment largely different from that to which they had grown accustomed in the South. While in the South tasks simply had been assigned to them, domestic work in the north required workers to report to the wife of the household. This contributed to a gendered, dichotomized work environment that emphasized the differences in class and race between black and white women. Velma Davis, living with and working for a Chevy Chase, MD family, explained the power structures inherent in live-in domestic work situations in the North: She knew you was from down home, working to help them survive, so, that woman just plain ran us to death! People from up here could leave, so she'd be more careful with all them 'cause they'd quit on her. But for me it was a job that kept me up here….it wasn't hard like the field jobs….and I could keep money going home. It was a for sure help-a blessing. (Velma Davis, as cited in Clark-Lewis 203). Female migrants from the South not only encountered the racism and class issues tied to working as domestics but also the discrimination of employers who, biased against migrants, treated them with less respect. For these women, a life of domestic service tarnished images of the lives they envisioned. Receiving little respect from white wives in the household and physically isolated from other African-Americans, many women sought ways to improve the quality of their jobs as domestic workers. Despite the negative aspects of their jobs, such as the required uniforms that symbolized their position of long-term service, many women decided to keep their jobs. Doing so, however, necessitated the creation of organizations such as "penny savers clubs," which sponsored social events and provided benefits to members (Clark-Lewis 203-204). These clubs, along with churches, played an significant role in encouraging women to seek change. The penny savers clubs enabled female migrants to save over a period of a few years, to acquire sufficient funds to leave the field of domestic service in search of a less binding form of employment.