Isabe The Great Migration: An Analysis

The quality life for African-Americans living in the South appeared to be improving during the time of Reconstruction. However, once it ended in 1877, white Southerners regained control of the south and began to implement Jim Crow Laws. As a result, conditions for Black people living in the south rapidly began to decline. To escape these conditions, African Americans began migrating to Western, Midwestern, and Northern United States from 1910 to the late 1940s, in a movement that is now known as the Great Migration. By leaving to escape violence and to find economic opportunities, these men and women revealed the hostile and oppressive conditions the Black people were living in and altered the distribution of Black people throughout the US. Moreover, the Great Migration revealed intersecting issues that Black women faced, and the various ways in which they resolved them. Although people migrated for various reasons, better opportunities and a desire to leave the violence of the South influenced many. In the South, there were limited economic opportunities for Black people, especially Black Women. White Southern households justified paying their Black maids and cooks low wages by arguing that Black women had “poor skills and abhorrent personal traits” (Hunter 107-108). As a result, many black people were not earning enough to support their families. In addition, Jim Crow laws prevented Black people from speaking against this injustice. In …show more content…
The conditions that Black people were forced to endure in the Jim Crow South are greatly brought to light during this movement. Additionally, the complexities to the oppression the African American women faced during this time were a key part to understating the Great Migration. However, despite the terrible conditions that led to the Great Migration, it has had a significant impact on the United States and how Black women during this era are