Black Cities Ain’t Going Nowhere

The theme of the U.S. Department of Justice’s annual Black History Month event this year was “Black Migrations,” to discuss how African-American migratory patterns have shaped urban policy over the decades. The newly confirmed Attorney General William P. Barr acknowledged in his remarks that the first black migration was a forced one, from Africa to the Americas, and that the post-slavery black migrations of the 20th century—”when millions of African-Americans fled persecution in the South”—fueled the growth of cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and New York.

“The Great Migration changed American history not just for the migrants but for all of us,” said Barr. “It made possible American cultural milestones like the Harlem Renaissance, Chicago blues, and Motown, just to name a few. Today we see … in the 2010 Census, a higher percentage of the African-American population lived in the South than in any Census in 50 years. I think that these are good signs that much progress has been made.”