The Great Migration: History, Causes and Facts

Between 1910 and 1970, round six million Black Individuals moved from the Southern states to the Northern, Midwestern and Western components of the nation. In keeping with specialists, it’s one of many largest actions of individuals within the nation’s historical past. Why did so many individuals transfer? On this article, we’ll discover the historical past of this phenomenon, which is called “The Nice Migration.” We’ll additionally look at its causes and essentially the most vital information about this six-decade interval.

The Nice Migration refers back to the interval of 1910-1970 when round six million Black Individuals moved from the South to the North, Midwest, and West. This motion was a response to the racial violence, discrimination and restricted alternatives of the American South, and whereas the opposite components of the nation supplied the hope of security and higher jobs, systemic racism remained an issue.

What’s the historical past of the First Nice Migration?

Historians divide the Nice Migration into two components. World Conflict I sparked the First Nice Migration, which is believed to have lasted from 1910-1940. As preventing in Europe broke out, white males left to affix the navy, whereas immigration from Europe stalled. Factories, particularly these within the North and Midwest, wanted new employees, however because of bans on hiring individuals of shade from different international locations, recruiters didn’t have a variety of choices. In keeping with info from the Nationwide Archives, Black individuals started to maneuver North in 1910 in quest of job alternatives and freedom from the Jim Crow system of the South.

Issues weren’t all the time safer within the North. In 1919, round 500,000 Black Individuals had moved to Northern cities, however a lot of their white neighbors weren’t comfortable. When Black veterans returned residence from WWI, they have been usually mistreated. Racist sentiments reached their peak in the course of the Purple Summer season of 1919. Mobs of white individuals started attacking Black individuals. Some riots acquired so violent that President Woodrow Wilson needed to ship out troops. Washington D.C., Virginia and Chicago noticed among the worst violence, however Black individuals defended themselves and refused to be pushed from their new properties.

What’s the historical past of the Second Nice Migration?

In keeping with the Nationwide Archives, the Second Nice Migration started in the beginning of World Conflict II and ended round 1970. Due to the struggle, the expanded protection business wanted extra employees, and as soon as once more, many Black Individuals from the South took the chance this introduced. After the struggle ended, migration steadily continued. Hundreds of thousands of Black Individuals moved North, in addition to West into cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland

The most important distinction between the First and Second Migration is the place individuals moved. In the course of the First Migration, the overwhelming majority of individuals moved to Northern and Midwestern cities. In the course of the Second, much more individuals moved West to pursue jobs within the protection business. California, which had simply 50,200 Black Individuals residing in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland in 1930, skilled a rise to over 250,000 in simply 20 years.

What prompted the Nice Migration?

On the daybreak of the First Nice Migration, life was very tough for Black Individuals residing within the South. Whereas the Civil Conflict had ended slavery, the US confronted an unsure future. In keeping with the Library of Congress, the Reconstruction period (1866-1877) was meant to ease the South again into the Union and outline how white and Black individuals might reside collectively. Whereas many labored to make sure full equality and freedom for the just lately freed Black inhabitants, many Southerners and even Northern leaders resisted. Whereas they couldn’t enslave Black individuals once more, they looked for different methods to discriminate and erase the handful of good points in voting rights, land possession and employment. The Jim Crow legal guidelines, which have origins as early as 1865, codified a system of racial apartheid that oppressed Black individuals. Listed here are among the results of the Jim Crow system:

Made it a lot more durable to vote because of “the grandfather clause,” which acknowledged that males might solely vote if their ancestors had been voters earlier than 1867
Required tougher literacy exams just for Black voters
Legalized racial discrimination in film theaters, accommodations, eating places and different public areas
Segregated public colleges and underfunded colleges for Black college students
Restricted Black employees to sure professions
Banned interracial marriage

Restricted financial alternatives and racial segregation weren’t the one causes of the Nice Migration: racial violence was additionally prevalent. Between 1882 and 1968, the NAACP recorded 4,743 lynchings, though with no formal monitoring system, it’s tough to know simply how many individuals have been killed. Most lynchings occurred in Mississippi, whereas Georgia and Texas had excessive numbers, as nicely. Whereas some Black individuals have been lynched primarily based on usually false allegations of theft, homicide and different crimes, many weren’t even accused of doing something unlawful. Life within the South might be terrifying, so it solely made sense to maneuver North in hopes of a greater life.

The Jim Crow system is likely one of the clearest examples of systemic racism. Whereas these legal guidelines now not exist, systemic racism continues to be an issue in lots of locations.

What information ought to everybody know concerning the Nice Migration?

The Nice Migration covers 60 years of historical past, however listed here are 5 crucial information everybody ought to know:

#1. The North supplied higher, though nonetheless restricted, financial alternatives

Many Black Individuals left the South to flee racial violence, however they have been additionally hoping for higher job alternatives. Earlier than WWI, jobs within the North have been few and much between, which was why there wasn’t a bigger migration earlier. Nonetheless, the struggle modified issues, which made the area extra interesting. In keeping with a 1987 article in Month-to-month Labor Overview, many Individuals who traveled North right now remembered listening to about job availability from family and friends who’d already moved. The roles weren’t all the time excellent as many Black Individuals have been solely supplied the roles white individuals didn’t need to do. Many Black migrants labored as servants, janitors, cleaners and so forth. Whereas the roles didn’t pay a lot and lots of unions didn’t enable Black members, the roles have been nonetheless higher than what might be discovered within the Southern states.

Individuals who moved in the course of the Nice Migration needed their civil rights protected and revered. Take a look at our article on what civil rights are and why they matter.

#2. Discovering good housing was an enormous problem

Whereas leaving the South gave Black individuals an escape from Jim Crow legal guidelines, the remainder of the nation wasn’t precisely welcoming. Housing might be particularly exhausting to safe, and whereas segregation wasn’t the regulation of the land, many white neighborhoods didn’t need Black individuals. Black Individuals have been usually pressured to reside within the worst components of a neighborhood regardless of points like overcrowding and deteriorating situations. The apply of redlining, which denies individuals entry to credit score primarily based on the place they reside, started in 1934. The group chargeable for redlining, the Federal Housing Administration, determined that residence loans couldn’t be “economically sound” if Black individuals have been residing in a neighborhood. Their reasoning, which was primarily based on pure racism, was that property values would decline. The Honest Housing in 1968 banned discrimination in mortgage lending and actual property, however the legacy of redlining nonetheless reverberates to at the present time.

#3. The Nice Migration modified the political panorama of the US

Hundreds of thousands of Black Individuals moved out of the South in the course of the Nice Migration. A motion this huge all the time has political ramifications. What have been the results of the Nice Migration? The most important is that whereas Black Individuals have been severely restricted from voting within the South, shifting to the North gave them extra voting rights. In keeping with an article revealed on-line by Cambridge College Press, this led politicians to adapt their current approaches and enchantment particularly to Black voters. The article’s writer, Keneshia N. Grant, argues that the elevated presence of Black migrants made Black voters important to presidential marketing campaign methods after WWII. This might mark an enormous shift in electoral politics. Whereas as soon as the pursuits of Black individuals have been ignored or actively fought towards, they now had extra energy.

#4. The Nice Migration and the Civil Rights Motion are intently linked

Many historians imagine the Nice Migration helped gasoline the Civil Rights Motion, which was an intense interval of civil rights activism that ran from 1954-1968. As Black individuals moved North and gained extra rights, their affect on politics and tradition on a nationwide scale additionally expanded. The Harlem Renaissance is a key instance. Throughout this period (1918-1937), Harlem, New York turned the middle of Black tradition, creativity and artistry. It was intently linked to civil rights organizations just like the NAACP, Black labor unions and outstanding activists. The Harlem Renaissance had a serious influence on Black literature and thought around the globe. Whereas it was hardly the one spark for the Civil Rights motion, it performed a key position made potential by the Nice Migration.

#5. A brand new Nice Migration is going on now

One thing fascinating has been taking place in the US. In keeping with information from Brookings and different sources, many Black Individuals are shifting to the South in a reversed Nice Migration. It started within the Nineteen Seventies proper on the finish of the Second Nice Migration, and elevated within the Nineteen Nineties as extra Black individuals started leaving Northern and Western cities. Areas in Texas and Georgia grew. Why? The North modified. The roles in business that had as soon as attracted Black Individuals disappeared, whereas the influence of redlining and underfunded neighborhoods took its toll. The South was recovering, too, which made a return extra economically advantageous. In keeping with Pew Analysis, 56% of Black individuals lived within the South in 2021, whereas 17% lived within the Midwest/Northeast and 10% lived within the West. What would be the long-term impacts of the brand new Nice Migration? It stays to be seen.

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