The Great Migration was a massive movement of African Americans from the South of the United States to the North with the largest amount coming in 1915 to 1920 of over 500,000 Blacks. African Americans left the miserable condition of the South that included low wages, racism, and horrible violence, and headed up to “The Promised Land” of the North where it was believed they could find refuge or even start over again. Black Protest and the Great Migration by Eric Arnesen is a history of documents telling the story of the African American searching for equality through the eyes of political leaders, newspapers, and regular civilians of the time between 1916 – 1925. This book teaches how the Great Migration was another source of hope that was
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“A mob is passionate, a mob follows one man or a few men blindly… and combine business and pleasure.” With mobs such as the Ku Klux Klan (Arnesen 33) many people fought against the Blacks and even enjoyed doing it. African Americans in this time were also always blamed for crimes they may have not committed and treated unfairly in a so called ‘just system.’ Many African Americans had just had enough and decided to move their lives up North where there would be less racial discrimination and fear, but it wasn’t entirely true. There were also many riots and mob violence in the North. On July 1st 1917 in East St. Louis, white “joy riders” rode down a block which was inhabited by Negroes, and began to fire into the houses. Also on the 2nd of July, 1917, a white mob of white men destroyed $400,000 worth of property belonging to both whites and negroes which drove 6,000 Negroes out of their homes. (Arnesen 80,81) The African American were not welcome to almost any city at any time. A leader of a labor union by the name of Mr. Mason had this to say, “some action should be taken to retard this growing menance. This is not a protest against the Negro who has been a long resident but the new one.” (Arnesen 82) I believe that the substantial increase of Blacks to the North scared many Northerners who resulted to violence thus taking hope away from African Americans
“A mob is passionate, a mob follows one man or a few men blindly… and combine business and pleasure.” With mobs such as the Ku Klux Klan (Arnesen 33) many people fought against the Blacks and even enjoyed doing it. African Americans in this time were also always blamed for crimes they may have not committed and treated unfairly in a so called ‘just system.’ Many African Americans had just had enough and decided to move their lives up North where there would be less racial discrimination and fear, but it wasn’t entirely true. There were also many riots and mob violence in the North. On July 1st 1917 in East St. Louis, white “joy riders” rode down a block which was inhabited by Negroes, and began to fire into the houses. Also on the 2nd of July, 1917, a white mob of white men destroyed $400,000 worth of property belonging to both whites and negroes which drove 6,000 Negroes out of their homes. (Arnesen 80,81) The African American were not welcome to almost any city at any time. A leader of a labor union by the name of Mr. Mason had this to say, “some action should be taken to retard this growing menance. This is not a protest against the Negro who has been a long resident but the new one.” (Arnesen 82) I believe that the substantial increase of Blacks to the North scared many Northerners who resulted to violence thus taking hope away from African Americans