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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - III. Population and Migration - 8. Migration - 5. The Future of Negro Migration
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198 An American Dilemma
they were. Their movements between the regions of the country have been
decidedly more restricted in amount and direction than those of the whites.
This trend is as significant as the slower growth of the Negro population
when compared with the wh^te population, which we analyzed in the
preceding chapter.
The restriction of long-range mobility of Negroes is—to an extent and
in a certain direction—a thing of the past. We found that the long immo-
bility of the Negroes was not unrelated to the white immigration, which
filled the demand for unskilled labor in the fast-growing industrial struc-
ture of the North. The white Southerners had a natural increase large
enough to fill most of those jobs in the lagging industry of the South.
The stopping of immigration during the First World War was one of the
factors suddenly giving the Negro a chance in Northern industry. But the
influence of immigration as a cause of immobility and the stoppage of
immigration as a cause, later, of greater mobility were interwoven in a
complicated fashion with many other factors. Northern industry went into
a period of mechanization, decreasing tremendously its demand for un-
skilled labor. During the ^thirties a great industrial stagnation hampered
the growth of employment opportunities. But once unleashed, the north-
ward Negro migration continued through good and bad times.
To forecast the future of Negro migration is, of course, difficult. It will
be determined by social trends and by public policy. Certain of the main
conditioning factors stand out rather clearly.
The liberty of the individual to move freely in the country is a firmly
entrenched frincifle of the American Creed. The future development will
probably be to reinforce still more in practice the individuaPs freedom to
migrate.^® It is true that Northern cities are usually not desirous of having
Negroes move in. There are a number of measures which can be taken
in order to keep out Negro migrants. But none are effective, at least not
in the big cities where Negroes have already gained a strong foothold.
Smaller cities have often kept out Negroes by social pressure or resort to
intimidation. In the South peonage or semi-peonage has prevented some
Negroes from moving away. This practice has largely been stamped out
during the ’thirties by legal action or is losing its motivation because of
the oversupply of Negro labor.®
There would, on the contrary, be a fossibility of establishing a fosithe
migration ’policy of helping the Negroes get to the places where then
opportunities on the labor market are best. Such a policy would be consist-
ent with the American Creed.** It seems not improbable that such a labor
information service will develop as part of the public control of the labor
See Chapter 12 and Chapter 26, Section 2.
*See Chapter 9. The details of our suggestion will be presented in Chaptci . Section 3.
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