In a Reversal, Blacks Moving BACK to the South

I have a few friends that have moved or are thinking of moving back to the South for the very reasons this article mentions. Of course, this article attracted all sorts of Yahoo racists, I think it shows how far America has come with many states becoming majority minority:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110216/ap_on_re_us/us_census_black_migration


WASHINGTON – The Great Migration, the 60-year escape from segregation and racism that brought American blacks to the North, has reversed course. Better jobs and quality of life in the South are beckoning, as is the lure of something more intangible — a sense of home.

"It's no coincidence that the shift is happening as we encounter economic turmoil that is being felt disproportionately among blacks, such as mortgage foreclosures, loss of jobs and economic devastation in major Northern hubs," said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau. "With major changes and less racial devastation in the South, people are finding their way back."

The nation's black population grew by roughly 1.7 million over the last decade. About 75 percent of that growth occurred in the South — primarily metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami and Charlotte, N.C. That's up from 65 percent in the 1990s, according to the latest census estimates. The gains came primarily at the expense of Northern metro areas such as New York and Chicago, which posted their first declines in black population since at least 1980.

Illinois had its first decline in the black population in the state's history, with the number of African-Americans decreasing by 1.3 percent since 2000, according to official 2010 census figures released Tuesday.

In all, about 57 percent of U.S. blacks now live in the South, a jump from the 53 percent share in the 1970s, according to an analysis of census data by William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. It was the surest sign yet of a sustained reverse migration to the South following the exodus of millions of blacks to the Midwest, Northeast and West in the Great Migration from 1910 to 1970.

"The Great Migration of millions of disenfranchised blacks from the South to Northern cities has now completely turned around," Frey said. "Blacks now look to states like Georgia, Texas and North Carolina as the places with the most promise in the 21st century — a prospect that would have been unimaginable a generation ago."

The converts include Shelton Haynes, 33, a housing manager in Atlanta. He grew up in New York City and lived in Harlem for many years with his wife and two children before growing weary of the cost of living and hectic pace. After considering other places in the South such as Charlotte, the two settled on Atlanta, where Haynes' brother, sister-in-law and parents now also live.

"We have a great support network of family and friends here, and there is good community involvement, with our kids involved in swimming, tennis and basketball," Haynes said. "In Atlanta, I also see a lot of African-Americans do very well in a variety of professions, so it was good to see things changing."

The findings, based on 2009 data, are expected to be highlighted in official 2010 results that show changes in non-Hispanic black populations in states such as Texas, New York, Georgia and Florida. Illinois' official 2010 data was released Tuesday. The recent census figures for blacks refer to non-Hispanic blacks, which the Census Bureau began calculating separately in 1980.

Historically, the South was home to roughly 90 percent of the nation's blacks from 1790 until 1910, when African-Americans began to migrate northward to escape racism and seek jobs in industrial centers such as Detroit, New York and Chicago during World War I. After the decades-long Great Migration, the share of blacks in the South hit a low of about 53 percent in the 1970s, before civil rights legislation and the passage of time began to improve the social climate in the region.

The current 57 percent share of blacks living in the South is the highest level since 1960.

The latest estimates show that the Atlanta metropolitan area increased by more than half a million blacks over the last decade to about 1.7 million, making it the metro area with the second-largest black population. Despite losing blacks, the New York metro area continued to be home to the largest black population, at roughly 3.2 million.

The Chicago metropolitan area, which previously was ranked No. 2 in black population, slipped to No. 3.

Broken down by state, Georgia was tops in the total number of African-Americans, edging out New York state. It was followed by Texas, Florida and California. California in recent decades has seen its black population slip or remain largely unchanged.

In December, the Census Bureau reported the nation's population was 308.7 million, up from 281.4 million a decade ago. Most of the population growth occurred in the South and West, where some states stand to gain seats in Congress to reflect their increases in population. Texas, for example, will pick up four new House seats, and Florida will gain two, while Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington each gain one seat.

Frey noted that the continued Southern migration of blacks, who tend to vote Democratic, could have political implications as they flow into mostly Republican-leaning states. In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama was able to win in traditionally GOP-leaning states such as Virginia, North Carolina and Florida after a jump in black voter turnout.

"While much attention is currently given to Hispanic and Asian immigration to new parts of the South, the return migration of African-Americans seems to have flown under the radar," Frey said. "It's a factor which should not go unnoticed by politicians and those creating new congressional districts in growing parts of the South."

 

Most of my family moved from L.A., Oregon & Washington, to Atlanta within the last 10 years and none of them are from there.

 

What were their reasons?

 

Are you trying to call my family coons?

 

Hunh? What's that? You're not calling Max Mosley's relatives monkeys on the sly are you? If you are, you've really reached a whole new low! :smt086

 

HELL NO..

I'm saying that is the crap people are fleeing.

I should have posted this instead..

 

My Grandparents are originally from Alabama/Texas, then moved to L.A. in the 50s, then to Oregon in the mid 70s and were the first to move down to Atlanta from Oregon about 10 years ago. Theyre obviously retired so they can stretch their money in ATL a lot more.

Out of the 9 kids they have, theres a few black sheep that naturally followed the comfort of that safety net. The rest thought it would be a good idea to be around family and reap the benefits of low housing prices and cost of living.

They want me to move down there but the DC area is polarizing enough.

 

Flaming,

Just a quick glance of the comments under the article reveal that the same way you feel about Mexicans, is the same way White bigots feel about us:

This is wonderful news now maybe they won't stop migrating until they get back to Africa wouldn't that be awesome

make sure you dont leave the somalis up here !!!

The North can keep em, New Orleans has plenty of black people already.

No, we can't 'just all get along.'As long as blacks rob and beat us, and turn our world into a ghetto.

I lived in a black neighborhood, and they stole everything that wasn't chained down, and some of what was. We were targeted, because none of our black neighbors were getting robbed...I guess they knew the truth about their race, because they kept everything lockup up tight.

They moved north and ruined the big cities. Now they're coming back to the south to ruin us.Great news- not.

the inner cities in every state is a cancer caused by these same people..guess the south will rise again on the crime rates hello detroit! how about atlanta need a blue print for failure? atlanta is the cross roads of the drug trade thank you "esa" mexacan buddies..."yoo dawg" really just a thought!???

 

I havent been back to L.A. since the early 90s but I hear that the relatively affordable areas of L.A. are over run with Mexicans.

Then again, white folks said the same thing about blacks moving into to South central/Compton. My mother lived in Compton when it was an affortable but nice area.

 

Of course they did. Compton used to be a White neighborhood but White flight occured once we moved in. I don't understand how that is different than what Flaming says about Mexicans.

 

The huge difference is we're legal and don't have anywhere to flee to when we fuck up

 

Agree for the most part but It is a bit different in the sense that blacks paved the way for other minorities to move in and actually have rights.

 

Exactly!!!
We paid for civil rights with our blood and now everyone reaps the benefits and we're still hated by everyone.

 

I see what you're saying but human beings will always migrate to greener pastures, so to speak. If you are a man living in a place and you can't feed your family or are living in a place where your life is at stake everyday, you will pick up and move to a safer place. It's human nature.

How do you feel about Africans moving to America or Europe for a better life?

 

What's wrong with that? When we were marching it wasn't solely for Blacks, it was fair treatment and civil rights for everyone.

 

Every group has racists among them.

Tell me something, in the history of this country, Whites have been the main instigators and perpetrators of racism towards Blacks. This has included lynchings, slavery, discrimination in the housing and job markets, denial of basic human rights, etc....so how are Blacks able to look past that and date Whites? Because we know that not all Whites are the same and that not all Whites were on board with that nonsense, right? So, if that's the case, if we can look past all what Whites did and date them in 2011, why can't that same courtesy be extended to Mexicans or other minority groups?

 

"Why" doesnt matter as much is "who" was marching and "who" took the beating and for how long. In the case of blacks, we're not limited to the civil rights area of the 60s. I agree with you for the most part but disagree with some of the comparisons with mexicans.

You also have to look at the sheer size and rate of immigration as well. Mexican immigration has much more impact on communities than the second great migration of blacks into the west.

 

Dude my entire family is from Jamaica and had to come here the right way. I don't see why anyone else should get a pass. As far as wanting more for your family they should fight for their rights in their home land. The people in Egypt just showed the world that if your government is treating its people like shit youfight for your rights. And you know why that happened? Because they didn't have anywhere else to flee so they were forced to make their conditions better.

 

Yes, Blacks sacrificed a lot. I agree with you there. But again, it was not just for Blacks, it was for civil rights for everybody.