Black Migration to Detroit, MI
The Urban League, Model T and Motown support African American Exodus
The African-American population grew to 120,000 by 1930. Was one cause of the Great Migration, freedom, achieved when Coleman Young became Detroit's first Black Mayor?
Cause of Migration
African-Americans in the South had been liberated from slavery for almost fifty years but this liberation did not mean that they were free. Reconstruction after the Civil War had initially given the Black community hope. Two African American Senators, 23 congressmen and over 100 state legislators had been duly elected to represent the southern population. However, this brief ray of sunshine was clouded when the southern Democratic Party began to regain a foothold and passed laws that required poll taxes and property qualifications that put the vote out of reach. Poor educational opportunities and outright denial of any education at all served to cement this legal roadblock to freedom for another hundred years. Along with this quasi-legal wrangling an epidemic of terrorist violence against Black citizens served to disenfranchise African Americans. The final political death knell to Black participation in government was the Supreme Court's dubious "separate but equal" doctrine.
Why Detroit
African Americans were not the only migrants to Detroit during this time period. There was an economic boom in this part of the country caused mostly by the advent of Henry Ford's new Model T automobile and his assembly line method of insuring its common affordability. The combination of an oversupply of labor, which was essentially the same as it had been since slavery was instituted (minus the free room and board), and the critical under supply of laborers in the North due to the First World War, provided an unequaled opportunity for Black economic advancement. Since 1900 12 million immigrants had flooded the US labor market. By the beginning of World War I in 1914 the annual total was just over 100,000. General Motors and DuPont had also lured many workers with the chance to secure economic freedom. However, none was more popular or drew more takers than the Ford Motor Company and its promise to pay $5.00 a day to all employees.
Fading Dreams
These dreams were shattered for many immigrants after 1920 as the end of the World War I brought a new flood of international immigrants to America. The Depression, beginning in 1929, erased all economic hope. While there was a need for workers the employers seemed to overlook skin color but when the market was flooded, old "southern" prejudices began to surface. This left that African American population at a disadvantage again. However, this time there had been just enough time in those intervening years for education and economic affluence to kindle a spark of change.
Social Climate
While it is not debatable that the social climate was adverse and that it still has not turned around 100 percent since then, this migration to Detroit and the small window of opportunity provided proved to be a turning point for African American opportunity in the United States. Two social entities were responsible for this. The first was the African American religious community. Churches banded together to help care for those in need by supplying not only economic assistance but educational and emotional assistance as well. The other great entity that has continued to have a great effect until today was the Urban League. Forrester B. Washington was the director of the first Detroit Urban League office which opened in 1916.
The Urban League
This great social force helped Detroit African Americans in many ways. They made it their goal to make sure that every immigrant was contacted within a week of entering the city in order to help to establish them in a supportive environment. They also persuaded the Detroit police department to hire an African American police officer to be in charge of immigrant relations. The Urban League had a three fold goal of providing economic relief, access to healthcare and what they called "social uplift" activities. They helped to establish housing availability and sponsored a branch of the YMCA. The Urban League also facilitated the development of hospital care for African Americans as the Black population began to soar.
A New Cultural Community
As the years went by a new cultural identity was formed as African Americans became more influential in their communities. What became known as a "Black Middle Class" began to emerge as economic hardships were overcome. In 1930 a preacher named W.D. Fard began a movement that would become known as the Nation of Islam. By the 1960's Detroit, nicknamed the Motor City, would be the birthplace of Motown Records which would become one of the most successful Corporations in America, promoting many African American performers who would explode onto the center stage of the American Entertainment industry. By 1973 this city, which had become more that 75% African American, would elect its first Black Mayor, Coleman Young. While no one can make the case that the length of time taken to make these achievements was just, one can argue that the Black Migration of the early 20th century to Detroit was a strong impetus for promoting racial equality in America.
Sources
Detroit and the Great Migration 1916-1929, by Elizabeth Anne Martin, 1992, University of Michigan
Black Migration in America: A Social Demographic History by Daniel Milo Johnson, Rex R. Campbell, 1981, Duke University Press
