The Importance Of The Great Migration In The United States

The Civil War was fought over the “race problem,” to determine the place of African-Americans in America. The Union won the war and freed the slaves. However, when President Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation, a hopeful promise for freedom from oppression and slavery for African-Americans, he refrained from announcing the decades of hardship that would follow to obtaining the new won “freedom”. Over the course of nearly a century, African-Americans would be deprived and face adversity to their rights. They faced something perhaps worse than slavery; plagued with the threat of being lynched or beat for walking at the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite the addition of the 14th and

Similar to The Great Migration, The Second Great Migration was the movement of more than five million African Americans from the South to the North, Midwest and West from 1941 to 1970. Between 1930 and 1950, the number of Southern tenant farmers was cut roughly in half, while the number of tractors tripled from 1940 to 1950 (“Second Great Migration: Historical Overview”). Adding to the troubles, many planters started to use the mechanized cotton picker. The need for laborers at harvest time was therefore drastically decreased. Besides a terrible economic situation, Southerners, as they had done during the Great Migration, were also fleeing Jim Crow. Also, with little hope of glow in the justice system, African Americans were at the crime of abusive employers, landlords, and almost anyone bent on depriving them of their rights (“Second Great Migration”). Once World War II came about and the United States became engaged in a two-front war against Japan and Germany, production shifted into higher gear. In addition to the usual needs for armaments, clothing, food, and training facilities, the naval war with Japan stimulated increased shipbuilding and the making of naval material, much of it directed to and through Pacific coast ports.

The Great Migration was a massive movement of African Americans from the South to the North from 1863 to 1960. The largest spike in this migration occurred from about 1910 to 1920.

Have you ever said that you wanted to start a riot, and people have responded by saying that’s not funny? Well here’s why they say that. On May 31, 1921 a riot occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It all happened when Dick Rowland (an African American) was accused of raping a white woman named Sarah Page in an elevator, when Rowland had tripped and grabbed her arm by accident. A salesclerk overheard the scream and called the police. Rowland was arrested. There were angry whites that were outside the courtroom protesting for Rowland to be lynched. The violence started for some people on May 31, 1921 and went on until June 1, 1921. 1265 homes, dozens of office buildings, restaurants, churches and schools had been destroyed during this

Urban Blacks were also encounter with extreme racial violence in neighborhoods and at work. Different ethnic groups of new immigrants obtained power and used conflict as a strategy of diminishing urban Blacks power level. They began blocking Urban Black workers going to work throughout new immigrant’s neighborhoods. Race riots have played a crucial role in the social establishment of race, prejudice, and discrimination across the United States. Race riots uncovered fundamental tensions in societies experiencing swift technological and economic changes. In 1920, there were many race riots and other violence in many places, such as Red Summer Race Riots of 1919 and the St. Louis Riot of 1917 that took place during the segregation in the South and the Black urban migration to the North. These race riots were response to the reality that Urban Blacks were carrying on a powerful struggle against White supremacy. During race riots, Urban Blacks lived through a renewed flow of riots, massacres, and racial terrorism.

The Tulsa Race Riot is considered to be the most deadly and violent race riot of all time. The period of the riot was a time of prosperity in America, not only among whites, but the black population in Tulsa were also living an upper middle class life. The oil boom gave Tulsa a quick boost in the economy and people had money, lots of money. With oil in the ground and money everywhere, it’s hard to imagine that the National Guard was about to be called on its own civilians for the first time and only time in history.

African Americans participated in the Great migration because they were terrorized and looked down upon in the South. They were lynched, housing situations were terrible, there were no jobs or education accessible to them. Economic inequality was a huge issue, African Americans worked unfair labor practices which made it easy when jobs became available in the North. Floods in Alabama and Mississippi pushed African Americans out of the area, as well as the impact that the boll weevil had on the crops, it took out cotton, the key cash crop (pg. 46-47). The segregation laws in the South were redundant and they led to a great deal of mob violence, particularly in Georgia and South Carolina (pg. 52).

In the weeks that followed the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of the Baltimore police, a group of protestors known as BlackLivesMatter, gathered with the intentions of demanding public awareness over the persistent discrimination and violence that African Americans are subjected to by Police Officers around the Country. Following Mr. Gray’s death, on April 25th of 2015, a small number of protestors attending the B.L.M. protest turned an otherwise non-violent protest into a violent bout of civil disorder which led to several dozen arrests, an estimated 15 officer injuries and mass rioting, looting and burning of the local businesses including a CVS pharmacy. Ultimately, a state of emergency was declared and the National Guard was brought in to resolve the conflicts.

We have always had racial riots since the beginning of American history, from the Stono Rebellion to Charlottesville. Each riot has a reason behind it, for Stono, it was a tribute to the resist of African Americans to the oppressive system of slavery. During the lynching

The first protest was formed on April 18th, by residents of Baltimore, in front of the Western district police station; after Gray’s subsequent coma. After Gray’s death became public knowledge, further protests were organized, amid the police department of Baltimore’s inability to adequately explain the events following the arrest and the injuries that led to Gray’s untimely death. On the day of Gray’s funeral service, violence engulfed the streets of Baltimore. Spontaneous, violent protests began to occur after Gray’s service was held. What started as peaceful protests in the days that led up to Gray’s funeral developed into full blown riots. Rioters took part in looting local businesses, setting cars and buildings ablaze, and throwing rocks at police

In 1965 riots in L.A. occurred after a routine stop by the police involving drunk driving. This stop occurred very close the driver’s residence where massive crowd began to build. When it was all said and done

The history of African-Americans in the United States is full of many periods of achievements, as well as periods of struggle. The Los Angeles riots of 1992 were the result of many years of systematic racism in the United States following the Civil Rights Movement. The beating and unjust trial of Rodney King exposed the unfair and brutal treatment of African Americans by the police. As well as the shooting of 15 year-old Latasha Harlins 2 weeks after the beating of Rodney King to further ignite hatred within African-Americans in Los Angeles. What came forth was a week long riot not only changed Los Angeles, but the United States. That is why the Los Angeles riots was the most devastating, yet consequential, civil uproar in the history of the United States.

The Great Migration brought about changes that would bring prosperity to most, but little did they know, it would come with a price. That price was endured through various social, economic, and political challenges that occurred during this harsh time in black history. Many opportunities were available for families that would travel far to take advantage of opportunities that would start a new beginning. The Great Migration was a movement of hope that there is a land that is free of oppression and strife. However, black families in the north faced issues that were troubling and contradicting to their belief of the north. Their thoughts of living racism free and gaining economic power was far fetch when they experienced the challenges of the north. The challenges blacks faced during the Great Migration paved the way for numerous opportunities and breakthroughs we have experienced and have not experienced today.

In July 23, 1967, the Detroit Police department busted a bar with a prominent number of African Americans. They arrested every person in the bar. More and more people started to gather on 12th street to watch the proceedings. That is when the rioting started. The crowd began to get more violent as more people joined.

On May 14th, 1961 in Alabama, mobs defied Supreme Courts and interstate commerce commission, serving Negros who ride the interstate bus may NOT travel with dignity in parts of the country. They could only travel unless they lost their life or limbs. Every time Negros got on a bus they became threatened to be killed. Law enforcement officials stood idly by what was happening and watched instead of helping the ones in need. Meanwhile the white mobs took over and began ruling the Law of Land and desecrated the fate of our nation before the world.