Return to the South: A Second “Great Migration”
By Dr. James Overton,
Host of The Black House, 1600 Cyberspace Avenue
Introduction
What should African Americans do? In order to answer the question, I will analyze the cause and survival plan of the first “Great Migration” by using a series of questions and statements presented in the body of this article. The analysis will be summed up by stating the lessons learned. The analysis and the lessons learned will be used to help us to gain insight into what we should do.
But first, I want to debunk the myth that our ancestors ‘punked out’!! Did most of Eastern and Western Europe ‘punk out’ when they were conquered and enslaved by the Romans, with the help of their African allies? If the Europeans did not ‘punk out’ neither did our slave ancestors. What about POWs (prisoners of war)? Should they commit suicide rather than allow themselves to be captured? The United States Military Code, which regulates the conduct of US POWs or military personnel captured by military enemy forces:
1. Presupposes the possibility of US military personnel’s capture by enemy military forces.
2. Requires captured US POWs not to surrender of their own free will.
3. Does not require US POWs to commit suicide.
4. Requires US POWs to resist by any means available.
5. Requires captured US POWs to make every effort to escape and to aid others to escape- a successful escape by a POW can provide valuable information about the location of enemy camps and military supplies, and troop strength. It serves a positive example for other POWs.
6. Requires captured US POWs not to collaborate with their captors.
7. Requires captured US POWs not to do anything harmful to their fellow comrades.
It is interesting to note that our ancestors observed the United States Military Code without knowing that it existed.
Before I address the question posed, there are several points I would like to make. The first point has to do with the debts of gratitude African Americans owe. The second point has to do with the African American identity. The third point has to do with the African American respect for their ancestors. The fourth and final point has to do with the African American choice of heroes.
Firstly, African Americans do not owe European Americans or Europeans anything. African Americans fought against the British to help European Americans secure their freedom. African Americans fought against Native Americans and the Spanish Empire to help the European Americans expand and maintain their territorial control. African Americans fought in WWI and WWII to help free Europe from the clutches of a dictatorial tyranny.
Neither do African Americans owe Africans anything. Africans Americans have always helped Africa in time of need, when they had the means to do so.
African Americans owe God everything for His granting them their freedom through His divine providence. Therefore, it is God that African Americans should seek to please. African Americans can begin by adopting a worldview whose principal ideals are based on: moral rectitude, and justice and respect for all human beings. African Americans should reject the European American, the European, and African worldviews, which are based on “I came. I saw. I conquered.” These two sets of worldviews are the very antitheses of each other. One’s worldview, in a large measure, determines who one is.
Secondly, the above paragraph raises the question of who the African American is, since the African American culture is, primarily, a mixture the European and African cultures. Also, ethnically, the African American is a mixture of Africans, Europeans, Native Americans, and Asians. However, the African American is like table salt that is used to season and preserve food, despite the fact that it is composed of two toxic substances, sodium and chlorine. In other words, African Americans have their own culture and worldview, which is unique to them and sets them apart from all other peoples in the world community. This distinctness simply means that African Americans have their own unique community aspirations and self-interests. African Americans should not use that distinctness as an instrument of hate, but as a way of relating to other peoples in the world community. African Americans should relate to other peoples of the world in such a way that they are able to achieve their aspirations.
Thirdly, We, African Americans, owe our ancestors respect and praise for the legacy they left us: freedom; property and material wealth, in many instances; educational institutions; social and political institutions; techniques for economic and psychological survival; businesses and industries; religious institutions, visions and aspirations, and brave heroes. Many African Americans have failed to appreciate the legacy that our ancestors passed on to us. Also, the analysis of the first “Great Migration” will provide a different perspective and greater appreciation of the legacy our African American ancestors left us. It will be very much to our credit, if we could leave a legacy as rich as the one we have inherited.
Our ancestors did a remarkable job, considering their extremely, limited freedom, education, and wealth. They showed that being uneducated and illiterate with limited means does not necessarily mean that one is not intelligent, powerless, or incapable of thinking, planning, organizing, or accomplishing great things. Many African Americans have failed to give our ancestors the credit they deserve. It could be because, historically, our ancestors were typically depicted as helpless lambs that waited anxiously for President Lincoln to free them. That could not be further from the truth.
Despite the fact that the Confederate Army was no match for the Union Army, it was no push over. The battle of Gettysburg proved that. The divine providence of God made much of the Confederate Army’s requirement for: food production, military supplies, military fortifications, even manpower dependent upon the southern slaves.
Therefore, a swift victory by the Union Army depended on the collaboration of the slaves in the South. President Lincoln knew this. In order to bring a quick end to the war, the Union Army needed information on the Confederate Army such as: troop strength and movement, and location of military supplies. Also, President Lincoln knew that the removal of the slaves would seriously weaken the Confederacy. President Lincoln knew that he had to offer the slaves an incentive. He offered to free all Southern slaves in exchange for their collaboration with the Union Army. This incentive converted the slave into a POW. These new POWs lived up to President Lincoln’s expectations and the Union Army won a swift victory after offering the slaves in the south their freedom. Many freed slaves fought in the Union Army against the Confederate Army. Other freed slaves helped the Union Army build military fortifications and acted as spies for the Union Army. Our ancestors received their freedom for services rendered.
Finally, African Americans should refrain from embracing European American, European, or African heroes who had been involved in or were suspected of being involved in the oppression or slavery of the African American. To embrace those kinds of heroes would be like European Americans’ embracing King George of England as their national heroe. Or it would be like the country of Israel’s embracing Hitler as their national heroe. We, African Americans, have enough real heroes; we do not need to embrace false ones. We should be thankful for what our ancestors did for us. Our ancestors are our true heroes.
What Was the “Great Migration”?
The “Great Migration” was the migration of African Americans from rural areas in the South to urban areas in the North and West. The migration began in the 1870’s and peaked during the periods: 1914 to 1920 and 1941 to 1970. During the peak periods, millions of African Americans migrated from the South. During the entire period approximately five million people fled the oppressive South.
What Caused the “Great Migration”?
Adverse social, political, and economic conditions were the major forces that drove many of the newly freed African Americans out of the South.
Mr. Abramowitz viewed the cause of the “Great Migration” in the following manner: “As an exodus tide continued to wash upon the Northern cities, there rose the cry, ‘Why do they leave?’ Only three years before, the South had replaced rule by the racially mixed Republican Party with rule by the white supremacist Democratic Party. The news had been loudly trumpeted across the land that the South would now return to a normal condition. It was further said this would win the approval of the newly freed ex-slaves who, it was claimed, had been swindled and deluded by carpetbaggers and scalawags.
Southern men of substance had assured the nation that the best friends of black people were the white people of the South.
If this was so, what caused the flight of thousands of those who allegedly
welcomed the return of the old political rulers? Some of the refugees had been
relatively well off in the South. Why had they decided to leave?
Slowly the story emerged, and it was shocking……..
All through the year the exodus continued. It paused only during the
summer months, but started again in the fall of 1879. A bewildered Congress
tried to find the causes of this unique movement of people, and the Senate established a ‘select committee.’ Its stated purpose was ‘to investigate the causes of removal of the Negroes from the Southern states to the Northern states.’…” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak. com).
Professor Fleming explained the cause of the “Great Migration” this way: “The remote but fundamental causes of the movement lay in the disturbed conditions in the South--social, economic, and political. The credit and crop-lien system which had been substituted for the slave-labor system had worked badly; the ‘40 acres and a mule’ delusion, the Freedmen's Bank failure, and educational disappointments had discouraged the race; the negro-republican governments in the South had all fallen, and now the blacks declared that legal protection was often denied them; the failure within ten years of all the plans for the immediate elevation of the blacks to the position of the whites had left the entire race restless and anxious for a change…..” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Who Planned and Organized the “Great Migration?
The US Government Had No Idea Who the Organizers Were
According to Mr. Abramowitz: “The journal, Appleton’s Annual Cyclopedia in reporting the exodus felt, ‘there was no appearance of organization or system among these persons. Their irregularity and the absence of preparation seemed to indicate spontaneousness and earnestness’. This view contrasted with that of Senator Voorhees of Indiana.
He was sure the movement was part of a Republican plot to shift voters to doubtful Northern precincts and ensure political victory for the Republicans in Indiana in 1880. His efforts, as a member of the Senate select committee, to prove this point were barren of results.
Existing evidence points strongly to the conclusion that Appleton was in
error and that the exodus was, indeed, the product of careful organization. But
it also shows that its planners were not Republican manipulators. In fact, the
politicians were carefully screened out of the movement lest they subvert it for their own narrow ends.
The hard core of migrants was apparently organized in a loosely constructed, secret society with branches in most of the Southern states………” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
African American Leaders
The “Great Migration” had many African American leaders. They were scattered all over the Southern states. A few of them are listed below.
1. Benjamin “Pap” Singleton from Tennessee,
2. Henry Adams from Louisiana,
3. George F. Marlow from Alabama,
4. J. Milton Brown from Mississippi,
5. Charlton H. Tandy from St. Louis, Missouri.
“Pap” Singleton
“Benjamin ‘Pap’ Singleton had been born a slave in Tennessee. He fled to freedom after many unsuccessful efforts to escape and at the end of the Civil War returned to Tennessee. He seems to have decided by then that the only hope for black people was to leave the South for the Northern states. In the North they would establish separate African-American colonies. They would, in effect, govern themselves. Though he was illiterate, he was a capable organizer and had soon founded several colonies of African-Americans in Northern
states.” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
Henry Adams
Henry Adams was an ex-slave from Louisiana who served in the Union Army for three years and was honorably discharged. He was a leader of an African American secret society in Louisiana. “……The group formed a committee to sound out the other black
communities ‘to see whether it was possible we could stay under a people who
held us in bondage or not.’
Adams had just been honorably discharged after a three year hitch in the
Army. As a civilian, he was aroused at the tactics employed by white landowners….” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
George F. Marlow
In Alabama, George F. Marlow was chosen to give a report on the suitability of Kansas as a possible area of settlement. “....Blacks in Alabama formed a migration group in 1871. They sent a committee to Kansas to inspect it as a possible area of settlement. On January 2, 1872, a black labor convention was held in Montgomery and heard a report from George F. Marlow of the committee that Kansas was very suited for settlement.
After some debate the directing body at the convention advised that if matters did not improve, an exodus would be ordered.” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
J. Milton Brown
J. Milton Brown taught school in and later served as sheriff in Mississippi. “….J. Milton Brown had come to Mississippi in 1871 where he taught school and later served as Sheriff. A leader in the Frederick Douglass tradition, he left no doubt that he regarded African-Americans to be the equal of white men. Such views led to his near death at the hands of the “bull-dozers.” Forced to flee for his life, he went to Ohio in 1876 and then moved to Kansas where he later played a prominent role in the Freedmen’s Relief Association.” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
Charlton H. Tandy
Charlton H. Tandy started a relief effort for migrants in St. Louis, Missouri. “On a day late in February 1879, as Charlton H. Tandy, an African-American resident of St. Louis, passed the wharves of that city, he was witness to a shocking sight. Crowded on the deck of a small river craft were several score of black people clad in ragged garments and plainly suffering from exposure and hunger. The tales that these individuals related to Mr. Tandy moved that energetic man to action to provide shelter and food for them. It also prompted him to contact other citizens of the St. Louis community for aid. Before the week was up, the city was alerted to the fact that a great mass of black people was moving up from the South in search of land and greater freedom.” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
The Republicans Praised the African American Leaders of the Migration
“Republican Senators had a field day with Democrats who declared that
black people were better treated in the South than in the North. When Senator
Ransom of North Carolina said that black people welcomed the return of rule by
the Democrats because it operated in their interest, he was quickly challenged by
Senator Hoar of Massachusetts. Senator Hoar asked him to ‘inform the Senate what it is that occasions this great emigration of intelligent men who understand their interest so well.’…” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
The Migrants Decided Where they Wanted to Go
The African Americans held conventions and mass meetings in Alabama, Kansas, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Cincinnati, Washington D.C., Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana to decide where to go. Even the US Senate marveled at their ability to organize themselves.
The Alabama Convention
“Meantime the exodus movement had ground in Alabama. By the end of 1874 it had grown sufficiently to influence a state-wide ‘colored convention’ held at Montgomery. The convention sent off a memorial to Washington that complained, ‘Our lives, liberties, and properties are made to hand upon the capricious, perilous, and prejudiced judgments of juries, composed of a hostile community of ex-slave holders, who disdain to recognize the colored race as their peers in anything, who look upon us as being by nature an inferior race, and by right their chattel property.’
From this the convention went on to cite specific acts of violence and then concluded, ‘Shall we be compelled to repeat the history of the Israelites and go into exile?...We linger yet a while to learn what will be done.’
But even as it ‘lingered,’ the convention established an emigration organization and sent a committee to seek lands in the West.” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
The Kansas Convention
“So in January, 1881, Singleton called and presided over a colored convention in Topeka, which considered means of bettering the condition of the race. A result of this meeting was the organization on March 4, 1881, in "Tennessee Town," Topeka, of the ‘Colored United Links,’ Singleton being the ‘founder and president’.” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Mass Meetings
“Mass meetings of African-Americans were held in Philadelphia, Boston,
New York, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C. In the latter city, the influential
People’s Advocate reported that ‘Frederick Douglass is a matchless orator...but
when he turns a deaf ear to the sufferings of the thousands who are fleeing to
Kansas, we are not surprised that a New York colored audience should hiss.’
Douglass promptly denied turning a ‘deaf ear’…..” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
The National Convention
“African-American communities across the nation faced massive problems
arising from the new political and social conditions in the South. They attempted
to resolve issues of strategy and tactics by resorting to a long-standing method in their history. That method involved the summoning of a national convention.
Before the start of the exodus there had been a call for a national convention of ‘colored men’ to be held in Nashville, Tennessee, the week of May 6, 1876.” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
The Mississippi Convention
“The planters paid little heed and went ahead with plans for their meeting.
A total of 500 delegates were assembled at Vicksburg. Most of the delegates
were African-Americans, including some prominent leaders. Ex-Senator Hiram
Revels headed the Miississippi delegation, which included J.J. Spellman and other
important black leaders. Louisiana was represented by such older leaders as
William Murrell and David Young. Both were Pinchback adherents who had
recently suffered defeat at the New Orleans convention.” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
US Senate Marveled At the Migrants’ Ability to Organize Themselves
“The growing change in black leadership was puzzling to those seeking to
study the exodus. In a Senate committee hearing in 1880, a Senator felt it
necessary to ask, ‘Are plantation laborers of that degree of intelligence to make
an organization of this kind, and issue a call, and vote, and do all that white
people do in a convention?’
The question was put to George T. Ruby, an educated African-American,
who was the editor of the New Orleans Observer. Mr. Ruby had been aligned with Henry Adams at the New Orleans convention in 1879, and was now appearing
before the Senate Select Committee. In his reply he said,
‘I have seen some exhibitions of very marked intelligence among them sir - not much knowledge of books, perhaps - but exhibitions of very marked natural intelligence’.” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak.com).
The Migrants Faced and Solved Their Problems
The migrants faced and overcame many difficulties. Several of the difficulties are listed below.
1. Economic dependence and weakness,
2. Political powerlessness,
3. Oppressive by the white Southern ruling class,
4. Selection of migrants,
5. Employment, training, and foreign immigrants,
6. Neglect by the established African American leaders,
7. Crime, violence, and public education.
Economic Dependence and Weakness
“….Pap (Singleton) was not content to remain in the North and soon went back to his old home in Tennessee to work at his trade. His experience in the North had opened his eyes to the economic weaknesses and dangers of his race, and soon he began to complain that the blacks were profiting little by freedom. They had personal liberty but no homes, and they were often hungry, he says, and were frequently cheated.” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
“Pap” Singleton saw economic independence as the solution to the problem of economic weakness. “….He then began his ‘mission,’ as he called it, urging the blacks to save their earnings and buy homes and little plots of land as a first step toward achieving industrial independence.” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Singleton and others took measures to assist African Americans to own their own homes. Their measures were not effective because of high land prices. “It was in 1869, he says, that he succeeded in inducing some Negroes ‘to get it into their minds’ that they ought to quit renting and farming on the credit system and endeavor to secure homes of their own. In order to direct their efforts he and others organized and incorporated at Nashville the Tennessee Real Estate and Homestead Association. The professed object of the organization was to assist Tennessee Negroes to buy small tracts of farm land, or houses and lots in the towns to which so many Negroes flocked after the war. All colored people were invited to join. Local societies were organized and incorporated under such names as the Edgefield Real Estate Association, in Davidson County, and these held frequent meetings in the negro churches and secret-society halls; committees were appointed by them to look out for land that was for sale, circulars of advice were scattered among the blacks, and speeches were made at the meetings by Singleton and others in regard to the economic situation of the negro race.
Numbers of the whites favored the movement and gave assistance and encouragement to Singleton, while others opposed it. On the whole it was not successful in Tennessee. The real cause of failure was the inability of the Negroes to purchase land at the high prices asked. The whites, hoping for better times, were still holding their lands at something like ante-bellum prices, notwithstanding the fact that the net income was yearly lessening. The only lands were the worn-out lands ‘where peas would not sprout.’…..” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Large numbers of the migrants were destitute and whites and African Americans provided them aid. “Not all of the Negroes from Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana went directly to Kansas. Many of them stopped in St. Louis and waited to hear about conditions in Kansas before going farther. Others stopped because their funds gave out. But the whites and blacks of St. Louis were anxious to speed the ‘exodusters’ on their way, and formed several aid societies to assist them to go farther west. One of these, ‘The Colored Men's Land Association of St. Louis,’ sent Singleton and DeFrantz as ‘land inspectors’ to search out other suitable places for the settlement of ‘exodusters’ in the western states.” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
“Most of the immigrants were destitute, and the whites of Kansas were forced to organize the ‘Kansas Freedmen's Relief Association’ in order to save some of the needy blacks from starvation.” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
“So in January, 1881, Singleton called and presided over a colored convention in Topeka, which considered means of bettering the condition of the race. A result of this meeting was the organization on March 4, 1881, in ‘Tennessee Town,’ Topeka, of the ‘Colored United Links,’ Singleton being the ‘founder and president.’ The objects were to ‘consolidate the race as a band of brethren,’ and to ‘harmonize together,’ to keep the race out of labor disputes, to care for the sick and the destitute…” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Political Powerlessness
“For several years Singleton had but slight success in making converts to his plan of salvation for the blacks. But after the dream of "40 acres and a mule" had failed to materialize and after the Negroes in Tennessee began to see that they were going to get few rewards from the politicians, they were willing to listen to other than political prophets, and Singleton at last found his opportunity.”
(Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Singleton did not like politicians but was not above using politics to try to benefit his people. “Soon, however, in order to relieve and reassure Kansas, he planned to divert the immigration to the states farther west, but only a few went to Nebraska and Colorado. His next plan, suggested by the whites, was to turn the migration to the states north of the Ohio. He visited Illinois and Indiana to investigate conditions, but received little encouragement. He then began to play upon the fear of the whites in those states about a possible ‘exodus,’ declaring that the ‘exodus was working,’ but that if the North would force the South to treat the negroes well, let them vote, sell land to them, etc., they would stay in the South.’ .” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Singleton helped to form the United Transatlantic Society. Its goal was to encourage and assist migrants to form colonies overseas. “Some waves of this uneasiness reached the Kansas Negroes and many of them enrolled in the United Transatlantic Society. According to the official papers of the society the movement was the result of the conviction that the relations between whites and blacks would continue to be unsatisfactory and that negroes could not expect to reach ‘perfect manhood’ in America; for it was clear that ex-slaves would never be accorded important positions in political or social life, and that fewer and fewer opportunities would be open to them. The Negro could not accept such a condition; therefore, the only solution was ‘a national existence’ apart from the whites.” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Rejection of the Oppressive White Southern Ruling Class
Singleton had no confidence at all in the white Southern ruling class. “…In the South, after the failure to acquire land, the situation of the race was, he thought, precarious. He had no confidence in the new ruling class of whites that came after the carpetbaggers; they were not as friendly to the negroes as was the old master class which had been put out of politics after 1865; there was danger of helpless, hopeless serfdom. "Conditions might get better," said Pap, ‘a hundred years from now when all the present generation's dead and gone, but not afore, sir, not afore, an' what's agoin' to be a hundred years from now aint much account to us in this present o' de Lord.’…”
(Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Singleton’s solution to this problem was to leave the South. “….The only remedy, he decided, was for the blacks to quit the South and go to a new country where they would not have to compete with whites. ‘I had studied it all out,’ he said, ‘and it was clar as day to me. I dunno how it come to me; but I spec it was God's doin's. Anyhow I knowed my people couldn't live thar . . . . . The whites had the lands and the sense an' the blacks had nothin' but their freedom, an' it was jest like a dream to them.’…..” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Selection of Migrants
Migrants were carefully selected in order to increase their chances of being able to successfully settle in their new chosen land. “The leaders of this migration saw to it that a certain selection of the emigrants was made. None who were entirely without means were advised to go; ‘no political Negroes’ were wanted, for ‘they would want to pilfer and rob the cents before they got to the dollars;’ ‘it was the muscle of the arm, the men that worked that we wanted;’ it was ‘root hog or die.’ ….”
(Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Employment, Training, and Foreign Immigrants
These problems raised serious questions about the African American’s future in the USA. It was becoming more and more obvious that African Americans should establish a separate nation. But employment was a critical factor in the exodus strategy. “Singleton in his addresses and proclamations as ‘father’ of the United Transatlantic Society went to the root of the trouble. The Negroes must be a separate ‘nation,’ he said; in no other can they survive. They had been able to secure no stronghold in America, for after emancipation ‘we were turned loose like so many cattle with nothing to live on,’ and all efforts at economic independence had failed. Now the ‘scum of foreign powers immigrate to America and put their feet on our necks;’ and they could live and work where a Negro would starve. This was shown by conditions in Kansas, he said, where ‘three thousand women and children once fully engaged in washing and ironing are now forced into idleness and hundreds of them into base prostitution’……” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
The Colored United Links wanted to provide training for the youth. Training in the trades for the youth was desirable for the youth to demand higher wages and obtain economic stability. “…and to provide for training the children in trades from which they were now excluded by the jealousy of the white laborers. ‘In unity there is strength,’ and ‘United we stand, divided we fall’ were the favorite mottoes on the circulars sent out to advertise the ‘United Links.’….” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Immigrants from Europe posed a threat to African American employment opportunities. “Under such circumstances, more and more did Kansas prove disappointing to ‘the father of the exodus.’ Too many of those who came insisted on staying about the towns and living as they had lived in the South; lands and homes were as far off as ever; competition with the whites was keener than in the South; the whites were distinctly business-like in their treatment of the blacks, and some were unfriendly; little sentiment was allowed to interfere in relations between races, and most threatening of all, thousands of European immigrants were coming every year to the prairie lands of Kansas and thus decreasing the opportunities of the blacks.” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Rejection of Established African American Leaders
Singleton, other exodus leaders, and the people wanting to migrate from the South had no confidence in many of the established African American leaders because those leaders opposed the exodus movement. The migrants rejected the established African American leaders. “For educated Negroes, Singleton had a profound and bitter contempt, perhaps because they generally opposed his movement. Most of the Negroes in the North who were well situated wanted no more of their race to come; they feared that a Negro migration to the North would make uncertain the position of those already there. For obvious reasons the Negro politicians opposed it. Singleton asked his people not to believe in those who would keep the blacks in the South for selfish reasons.” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol.15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
“This larger ‘exodus,’ like Singleton's original one, met opposition from the leading Negroes like Fred Douglass, Pinchback, and Bruce, who objected to any scheme of moving masses of Negroes into the North. Against these race leaders Singleton spoke with considerable feeling. ‘They had good luck,’ he said, ‘and now are listening to false prophets; they have boosted up and got their heads a whirlin', and now they think they must judge things from where they stand, when the fact is the possum is lower down the tree--down nigh to the roots;’ they either ‘saw darkly’ or were playing into the hands of the Southern planters who feared a scarcity of labor. To those who objected that Negroes without means should not come to Kansas he replied that ‘it is because they are poor that they want to get away. If they had plenty they wouldn't want to come. It's to better their condition that they are thinking of. That's what white men go to new countries for, isn't it? Who was the homestead law made for if it was not for poor men?’…” (Reference: Fleming, W.L. (1909). “Pap” Singleton, The Moses of the Colored Exodus. The American Journal of Sociology (Vol. 15). Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Crime, Violence, and Public Education
The white Southern ruling class often resorted to economic and physical violence in order to keep the African American residents “in their place.” The African American residents did the only thing that they could do, at the time, leave the South. “Black farmers told of white landlords charging double the price for goods and paying half price for crops. Women told of their humiliation at the hands of unprincipled white men who, for this purpose, now overlooked racial differences. Black parents told of the closing of public schools and the fear their children would grow up illiterate. Stories of arson, murder, rape, usury, pillage, and ‘bulldozing’ formed a picture of unrelieved horror.” (Reference: Abramowitz, J. (2002). The Black Exodus of 1879. www.eductrak. com).
Lessons Learned From the “Great Migration”
I have concluded the analysis of the “Great Migration”. Now, I will list some of the most salient lessons that can be drawn from the analysis.
1. Develop a vision , which encompasses the community’s self interest aspirations, and plans to solve any problems the community faces,
2. Use local, state, regional, national, and international meetings to refine the vision and gain support for it,
3. Reject leaders who are not committed to the vision or the community’s self interest,
4. Choose leaders who are honest and dedicated to the vision and the community’s self interest,
5. Each participant in the plan should be of good moral character and be dedicated to the plans and their success,
6. Participants in the plans should be held responsible and accountable for their actions,
7. Take any lawful action necessary against social, political, economic or physical oppression or abuse,
8. No condition can be improved without change or sacrifice,
9. All plans should be well thought out and well researched,
10. Most participants in the plans should have access to those financial resources required by the plan,
11. Participants in the plan should agree to obtain or have the academic or vocational education and/or experience required by the plans,
12. The community should strive to become economically independent and self sufficient by pooling its resources,
13. Consider migrating to places where the community’s economic resources have more value than they do where the community currently resides,
14. Do not expect any special help from any level of government,
15. Force all levels of government to provide the community and participants that which they are entitled,
16. Do not expect any help from any political party,
17. Hold all political parties or politicians to any promises they make,
18. Do not tolerate crime or violence against or allow disrespect for members of the community or participants in the plan,
19. Do tolerate inferior public education in the community,
20. Make economic agreements: locally, at the state level, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
“Return to the South Migration”
The African American “Return to the South Migration” began in the 1970s. The migration continued to increase in the 1980s and 1990s. During the first half of the 1990s, approximately 400,000 African Americans migrated to the South. Between the years 1995 and 2000, approximately 700,000 additional African Americans migrated to the South. And the migration continues.
The Cause of the “Return to the South Migration”
A large number of the migrants retired. Various studies have shown that some of the reasons why retired Americans migrate to a particular location are:
1. Low cost of living - including low/no taxes and low housing prices,
2. Low/no crime,
3. Warm, year-round climate with mild seasons,
4. Low-cost, adequate medical care.
5. Low/no cost cultural activities and recreation.
6. Proximity of friends and family members.
7. Low cost transportation in the area as well as to and from the area.
8. Beautiful scenery.
9. Opportunities for education and volunteerism.
At this point in time for the migrants, the South satisfies many of the conditions stated above. In addition, many retired African Americans own property in the South.
Problems of the “Return to the South” Migrants
Many of the migrants are faced with problems, which threaten its very existence:
1. Economic weakness and poverty,
2. Unemployment, foreign immigration, and job outsourcing
3. Inadequate health care and short life expectancy,
4. Transfer of wealth to other communities,
5. Crime, violence, and public education
6. Neglect by the white ruling class,
7. Neglect by established African American leaders and political powerlessness,
8. No plans exist to address the problems.
Please note that the migrants of the first “Great Migration” faced many of the same problems. However, the migrants of the first “Great Migration”, at least, established plans and strategies to address their problems.
Economic weakness and poverty
Approximately one fourth of the African American population lives in poverty, a rate three times that of white Americans. In 2000, 19.1 percent of the black population lived below the poverty level as compared to 6.9 percent of the white population.
The US Census Bureau data indicate the percentage of African Americans in poverty rose to 24.1 percent in 2002 from 22.7 percent in 2001. According to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Increases in poverty were largest among blacks...The number of blacks who were poor increased by 500,000 or 700,000, depending on which definitional category of blacks is used."
The Administration on Aging states, “More than 68 percent of African American elders are poor, marginally poor, or economically vulnerable. African American elders are more than one and a half times as likely as white elders to live below the poverty line. More than one in four African American elders have incomes that fall below the poverty line.”
Michael Tanner, in his article "Disparate Impact: Social Security and African-Americans” says: “Social Security contributes to the growing wealth gap between blacks and whites. Because Social Security taxes squeeze out other forms of savings and investment, especially for low-income workers, many African Americans are unable to accumulate real wealth. And, since Social Security benefits are not inheritable, that wealth inequity is compounded from generation to generation.” According to Mr. Tanner this explains, in part, why the average African American household has a net worth of just $4,500- less than one-tenth the figure for whites.
Unemployment, Foreign Immigration, and Job Outsourcing
In 2000, the unemployment rate among African Americans was almost twice the rate for whites. The income gap between black and white families also continues to widen. Employed blacks earn only 77 percent of the wages of whites in comparable jobs, down from 82 percent in 1975.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that manufacturing job losses account for 95 percent of the 3 million private-sector jobs lost. In 2000, there were 2 million African Americans working in factory jobs. Between 2001 and mid-2003, 15 percent of those jobs disappeared. Many of these jobs were outsourced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the African American unemployment rate went from 10.5 percent in January, 2004 to 9.8 percent in February, 2004, but a record 230,000 African Americans dropped out of the labor market that month. The national unemployment rate currently is 5.6 percent. Despite the economic recovery African Americans have not, as a whole, benefited.
Andrew Stettner, Policy Analyst with the National Employment Law Project., stated: “Diminished African-American employment is a prime example how the recovery has yet to translate into sufficient employment gains. The recent slowdown in job creation is particularly bad news for African-American communities who have yet to reap benefits from overall economic growth.”
Also, Mr. Stettner said: “The
current period has repeated a familiar disappointing pattern of African
Americans being the ‘last hired’ during an economic recovery. African-Americans
are too often left out of discussions related to labor market struggles.” His
conclusion is in agreement with other research conducted by the National
Employment Law Project that showed that African American long-term unemployment
was more severe in 2002 and 2003 than among other groups. Much of this is due to
foreign immigration and racial hiring practices.
Inadequate Health Care and Short Life Expectancy
According to the National Vital Statistics Reports (Vol. 47, No. 28), the African American life expectancy is 70.6 years, compared to an average 76.5 years for all population groups.
The report, led by Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, found that white Americans live six years longer than blacks. Deaths from heart disease and cancer are the top two reasons for the gap. But homicide is not far behind. Also, the fact that African Americans lack access to quality health care is a contributing factor.
HealthScout reported in the Sept. 14 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that a new government report found that homicide is responsible for 10 percent of the difference in life expectancy between white Americans and black Americans.
The Administration on Aging, (AOA) - part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, gave a grant to the Public Health Commission in Boston to educate older African Americans, especially with regard to the adoption of healthy lifestyles. The AOA also encouraged the African American community to get involved.
The National Democratic Committee stated that the number of African Americans without health insurance increased by 596,000 in 2002.
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation reported: "Especially disturbing is that racial and ethnic minorities comprised a disproportionate burden of the uninsured population. Though African Americans are only 12 percent of the population, 20.2 percent of African Americans were uninsured in 2002, up 1.2 percent from the previous year -- the highest one-year percentage increase of all racial and ethnic groups. Twenty-six percent of blacks in poverty were without health insurance year-round.”
Transfer of Wealth to Other Communities
Michael Tanner, in his article "Disparate Impact: Social Security and African-Americans”, states: “African Americans are reaping fewer benefits from Social Security than their white counterparts, which translates into a lifetime transfer of wealth from blacks to whites of nearly $10,000 per person, primarily because of their shorter life expectancies.” Also he says, “Elderly African Americans are much more likely than their white counterparts to be dependent on Social Security benefits for most or all of their retirement income, yet the current system often works to their disadvantage.
Despite a progressive benefit structure, Social Security benefits are inadequate to provide for the requirement needs of the elderly poor, leaving nearly 30 percent of African American seniors in poverty.”
Crime, Violence, and Public Education
Researchers recommended that healthcare professionals, police officials and educators focus on violence in order to correct the disparity between the black and white life expectancies. "That initiative needs to come from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the general public-health community," said Hasbrouck. "The effort needs to involve educators and law enforcement. Those are the folks who are the major players in dealing with violence."
Nancy Hwa of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence added, "What we need to do is to get guns out of the wrong hands, making it more difficult for criminals and juveniles to get a hold of guns. We also need to educate the public on the real risk of keeping guns for self-protection."
The violence has spilled over into the pubic schools. Many students are more worried about personal safety than about learning how to read or write.
The high rate of violence and crime in the African American community may account for why more than one million African American men are currently incarcerated. This amounts to approximately 3% of the African American population.
Neglect by the White Ruling Class
The white ruling class did not play a significant role in helping to solve the problems facing the migrants in the first “Great migration”, and it will play less of a role in helping the migrants of the second “Great Migration”.
Neglect by Established African American Leaders and Political Powerlessness
A leader’s job is to protect the interest of the community that elected him. Even if the community does not know what its interest is, it is the duty of the leader to define it, articulate it, make the community aware of it, and defend it.
The situation that the African American community finds itself in illustrates that the established leaders have not done their job. It is time for them to do their job. The very existence of the African American community is at stake. But if these leaders fail to do so reject them and choose leaders who will.
The problems facing the African American community must be addressed, immediately!!!!! The old tired statements: “the white man won’t let me do this or that” or “I do not have this or that” do not solve the problems. The community should not care what the white man wants unless the white man wants to help the community to solve its problems!!! Please note that the migrants of the first “Great Migration” did not care about what the white man wanted. They were focused on their interest and their survival. Neither did they let the lack of resources stop them from achieving their goal.
No Plans Exist To Address the Problems
I applaud Bill Cosby’s effort to galvanize the African American community into studying the problems it faces and to search for solutions. I hope the community will take Bill seriously and appreciate what he is doing. Also, if the community is interested in applying the results and lessons learned in this article to solve the problems outlined in this article and other problems, the author of this article and the Villages of Christ would be happy to be of assistance.
James Overton, Ph.D.
Host of The Black House, 1600 Cyberspace Avenue
President of the Villages of Christ
P.O. Box 181000
Memphis, TN 38181
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