Great Migration (African American)

The Great Migration was the migration (movement) of around 6 million African Americans out of the Southern United States to the Midwest, Northeast and West. The main reasons African Americans left the South were to escape racism and seek jobs in industrial cities. There is a series of paintings about it.

When a lot of African Americans moved to the south from the 1960s and onwards, it was called the New Great Migration. In 1963 to 2000, data shows the movement of African Americans back to the South following de-industrialization in Northeastern and Midwestern cities, the growth of good jobs in the South, and better racial relations. Many people moved back because of family ties.

Great Migration (African American) Media

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  The Arthur family arrived at Chicago's Polk Street Depot on August 30, 1920, during the Great Migration.

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  African-American youths play basketball in Chicago's Stateway Gardens high-rise housing project in 1973.

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  The Hub is the retail heart of the South Bronx, New York City.

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  White tenants seeking to prevent Black people from moving into the Sojourner Truth Project in Detroit erected this sign, 1942

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  Graph showing the percentage of the African-American population living in the American South, 1790–2010

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  The Great Migration shown by changes in the African-American share of populations of major U.S. cities, 1910–40 and 1940–70

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  Racially motivated murders per decade from 1865 to 1965.

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  A map of the black percentage of the U.S. population by each state/territory in 1900.Black = 35.0+%Brown = 20.0–34.9%Red = 10.0–19.9%Orange = 5.0–9.9%Light orange = 1.0–4.9%Gray = 0.9% or lessMagenta = No data available

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  A map of the black percentage of the U.S. population by each state/territory in 1990.Black = 35.0+%Brown = 20.0–34.9%Red = 10.0–19.9%Orange = 5.0–9.9%Light orange = 1.0–4.9%Gray = 0.9% or lessPink = No data available