The Southern Diaspora Analysis

By this time Detroit had become the epicenter of the American automobile. Detroit’s grand boulevards, were now lost in this ever expanding industrial Mecca. Detroit was home to some of America’s biggest names in automotives, including Walter Chrysler, The Dodge Brothers, and the outspoken Henry Ford. Workers in these factories often earned more in wages than many unskilled labor positions around the country. As news of the high-wage jobs in the up-and-coming motor city made its way around the country, migrants began to flood the city in hopes of a better life. Overcrowding among blacks and the have-nots of society was a harsh reality in Detroit’s inner city ghetto, which went by the name of Black Bottom. Several families would cram into single family flats, often grateful to even have a place to stay. Many made due without luxuries like running water, and disease ran rampant along the dirty over-crowded streets. This migration was not often welcomed among white Detroiters. A message of “One Hundred Percent Americanism” was being spread and upheld by the Ku Klux Klan, and Negroes were not Americans. Many white Detroiters, whether they were with the KKK or not, felt that segregation was the way it should be. They feared that if blacks were to breach the color line into white neighborhoods then property values would plummet, real estate agents would not show the houses and the neighborhood would be ultimately

Specifically, white efficiency expert Dwight Thompson Farnham said, “A certain amount of segregation is necessary at times to preserve the peace” (Doc. 3). This reveals how despite the popular belief in the south, the north also had segregation and racism prevalent. To further support this idea that segregation was still prevalent in the North is Document 7. Specifically, the black population grows over time, but the blacks scattering throughout the city does not change at the same rate. Even though black population is growing, they still are in a part of town they is predominately black only (Doc. 7). Next, a white-owned newspaper discusses the topic of the poor quality of life for Negros in the north: “…the decent, hand-working, law-abiding Mississippi Negros who were lured to Chicago by the ball of higher wages, only to lose their jobs, or forced to accept lower pay after the labor shortage because less acute” (Doc. 4). This reveals how African Americans did not have jobs where they had sustainable income, appreciation, and reasonable hours, which was the complete opposite of what they expected. In all, from the perspective of white men in the north, white men believed that black men should be separated and be working in poor and unbearable conditions. The black individuals had an ideal picture of life in the north, but the white men clearly explain the difference between expectations and

During World War I, 4,734,991 people were involved, during World War II 16,112,566 were involved, during the Korean War, 5,720,000 were involved, and during the Vietnam War, 8,744,000 were involved. (America’s) These created a situation where large amounts of people were removed from their jobs. These jobs needed to be filled, along with the myriad of other jobs that were created during the migration. Southern African Americans seemed to be a solution, as they were trying to get out of their current situations, and the north needed workers. At times, northern companies sent recruiters to draw more southern African American to work in the north. (The Great)The north needed people to take these jobs, and southern African Americans fit the bill.

The Great Migration was a huge relocation of African Americans from the Southern states of the United States to northern and Midwestern cities. This occurred between the years of 1910 and 1970. Over 6 million African Americans traveled to Northern cities during the migration. Some northern city destinations were Richmond, D.C, Baltimore, New York, and Newark. Western and Midwestern destinations were those such as Los Angelos, San Francisco, St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit. During this time period and previous years, Jim Crow laws in the South were greatly in affect and causing African Americans a rough time due to the racism they faced. After Reconstruction had ended, white supremacy had taken it's toll in the South and Jim Crow had

The status of black Americans improved under Reconstruction, and then deteriorated towards a low point by the end of the century. African Americans in many parts of the South were politically powerful in the first years after Reconstruction. The timing and nature of white supremacy in practice was determined by demographics, economics, class, occupation, gender, and even the tone of skin color. The exclusion of black workers from major sectors of the Northern and Western economy during a period of industrialization set a pattern of racial exclusion and oppression at the workplace. This pattern also helps to explain why black migrants in the North fared particularly badly in comparison with immigrant groups. Forced into ‘dirty’ jobs or domestic

Evidence of this general consensus is in abundance in the publicly published writings of Southern blacks, from the barely literate to scholarly intellectuals, presented in Document 1. In 1919 the Journal of Negro History published letters from Southern Negroes to the Chicago Defender, written in the early years of the Great Migration, inquiring about employment prospects in the North. One 1917 letter from Florida mentions “a rumour about the great work going on in the north,” the only inclusion of what might have been interpreted as the work of

‘The African American “Great Migration” and beyond’ by Stewart E. Tolnay and ‘All the Nations under Heaven, An Ethnic and Racial History of New York City’ by Frederick M. Binder are about the migration of blacks in the first reading and the migration of Jews in the second reading and the cause of the migration and the aftermath. ‘The American Great Migration and beyond’ talks about the Great migration of blacks from the South to the North. Many blacks migrated to the North for a better life and for more opportunities. They wanted to escape segregation and racism that Jim Crow imposed in the South so they decided to migrate to the North. “Against this challenging backdrop, migrants attempted to find a place in the northern economy that would

Dumenil next covers the emerging consumer culture with the reinvention of work and its implications on the American society as well as the influence of more aptly the lack of influence of the labor unions. At the heart of this new consumerism was the rise of the automobile industry in the northern Midwestern industrial belt. Dumenil makes a faulty assertion that the Black migration to the Northern industrial belt were for these relatively high paying jobs. They were not; they were for the service industry in those cities. Dumenil fails to cover the white migration out of the Appalachia’s (Hillbilly Highway) to the industrial belt. This is a critical error in her thesis since in her later chapters she covers the expansion of the KKK and its role in the 1920s. The Appalachian migration now expanded rolls of KKK in new areas that were previously not covered.

The Great Migration was a legendary movement between the years of 1920 and 1970. This could be analyzed as a major event that brought the United States toward the American

During the 1920’s, the black population started to grow very fast in Detroit. In the second year of the Great Depression, blacks and other European immigrants were in deep competition for jobs. As a result, blacks’ feelings towards whites became more bitter. It didn’t matter if it were the immigrants that they were in competition with or even to the police to that matter. Blacks just became more resentful toward white people, in Detroit. Another contributing factor to the conflict between blacks and whites was

In The Southern Diaspora, James N. Gregory tells the story of migration between the whites and blacks of the south. He focuses on how the whites and blacks moved from the south to the north. Gregory illustrates how two completely different races come together to uplift the American society. Not only does he illustrate the unity of blacks and whites, he also focuses on how the two races had to adapt to a new way of living. Gregory concentrates on how this particular migration recreated the social and political perspective of America.

Detroit was once the center of it all. The motor city people called it. The industrial city of the world, Detroit, was a bright eyed city. This city is where the legendary music record label originated, Motown Records. In the 60’s as stated in the video, “people were thriving...but Motown was booming”. The automotive industry’s assembly-line helped African-Americans reach middle class economically which is an aspect of the “American Dream”. Around the mid eighties, the Japanese constructed automotive plants in the southern parts of the USA. First, Detroit began to decline economically when a few of the largest vehicle companies started to suffer financially. In 2005 layoffs from automotive industry reached 70-80,000 people. As stated

Robert Zieger’s For Jobs and Freedom Race and Labor In America Since 1865 is laid out as a scholarly historical look at how race has effected freedom and the labor market for blacks in America since the late 19th century. While Zieger presents the material in a scholarly manner and is careful to look at issues from more than one paradigm; I feel that his voice is often lost in this careful presentation of both sides of the coin. Aside from obviously being pro-union Robert Zieger only takes a personal stand a once in his book For Jobs and Freedom; the onetime Zieger’s voice is heard he speaks in opposition to the Accomodationists ideals of Booker T and Villard who urged young blacks to accept their station and apply themselves diligently to become the best farmer, domestic servant, or ditch digger that they could possibly be. Another critic of the book raised in class by Professor Bloom was that Zieger only focuses on one form of racism, white supremacy. In my paper I will briefly discuss some of the social and economic changes that forced the rearticulation of the relationship between black workers and white capital near the turn of the century. I will also highlight Zieger’s argument that organized labor near the turn of the century failed black workers with their actions while maintaining a rhetoric of egalitarian principles towards black workers. Zieger’s practical agenda is to shine a light on racism and help facilitate its end by educating through a lens of

One of the U.S.’s involvements in the world was through migration. In one of the ILC events I attended this semester was a global dialogue and we talked about migration. We talked about the meaning of migration, the purpose of migration, and viewed events back in the 19th century that caused people to migrate. For instance, I learned that migration was intended for a group of people to move from one place to another to have and experience better living conditions. This concept brings me back to the Great Migration that happened in history when a large group of African Americans moved from the South to the cities in the North to experience better living and working conditions. The Great Migration allowed African Americans to build a new place

In the 1950s, the effects of racism were just beginning to diminish and opportunities were opening up for African Americans to take on greater tasks and more responsibilities in the workforce. While they were still not afforded the same job opportunities available to white men, they were beginning to expand their presence in the American workforce. In the past, people of color were often exclusively employed for “unskilled jobs” (Wilson and Gillmore 699). We see this in Troy’s employment as garbage collector. Rather than being permitted to drive the truck himself, his job description is limited to “lifting” (Wilson 965). As we progress into the 1950s, however, Troy’s promotion to truck driver demonstrates white employers’ changing views of African American workers by allowing them more responsibility in “skilled” jobs. Although the ‘50s were a time of change and opportunity, Troy refuses to see it.