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Impact of the Great Migration

Terms in this set (5)

Racial hostility
Many black Americans were confined to black ghettos with higher rates of crime, infant mortality, poverty, overcrowding and unemployment. The influx of black migrants had led to racial tensions and whites responded by trying to segregate the races - Boston passed its first segregation residential law in 1911, and other states followed suit. Race riots occurred in the north such as in Chicago in 1919.
African American resistance
They were determined to solve segregation - prompted by segregated regiments during the war. White violence was not accepted passively, e.g. Chicago riot of 1919 when black Americans fought together against the murder of a 15 year old boy who had accidentally crossed the dividing line on a segregated beach in Lake Michigan.
NAACP activism
In 1919 there were more than 300 branches of the NAACP with 900,000 members - they encouraged black Americans to fight back.
Political impact
By the 1930s, 60% of black Americans participated in elections. Oscar de Priest was Chicago's first African American alderman and the first African American US congressman in the 20th century.
Cultural impact
Black migrants brought their culture with them and this led to the emergence of jazz music - black American musicians and performers became national figures such as Louis Armstrong. Harlem became a hub for arts and culture which raised the profile of black Americans, undermining stereotypes and changing views.
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