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I think overall, towards the late 70s, we saw a decline and many urban cores of cities due to folks preferring the air conditioned shopping malls over the pedestrian malls and many blacks lived in urban areas at that time.
There was a time when we had more black people living in rural areas than we do now. When did this shift happen? Now you still have rural black Americans in the south (e.g., go to a small town in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina and you'll have rural towns that are virtually all White or virtually all Black), that said, the majority of us live in urban areas or we live within the city limits of whatever city it is that we live in. Where do you see the rural Black population in the future?
Also, will note that even PhD college instructors, unless they are tenured, they don't make much money either. I know professors with PhDs who have been working as adjuncts along with another "regular" job for many years. They've tried to get into academia full time as well but it is not lucrative enough for them financially.
Please note that most of my extended social network has at least a master's degree who are black. I know quite a few people with PhDs but they are still rare for black Americans to attain. Last I read, I think maybe 5% of college graduates who are black have a PhD.
I am also considering getting one, but I probably won't. I like school but would rather do something else with my free time at this point in my life. A cousin of mine is also considering getting one. We actually have 5 PhD family members in my paternal family. One of my 2nd great aunts was the first black woman to graduate with a PhD from our local university.
I knew public schools didn't pay all that well. Never knew the pay for college instructors. I figured it would be higher.
I have a Bachelor's myself. I have thought about getting a Masters. Part of me wants to. I also need to make money.
So the current buzz is that Obama had a Caucasian-Asian squeeze before Michelle, and that he dropped her for the political advantage of a black wife.
Although, when I look a bit closer, I see that although he'd proposed to the earlier woman, her parents objected and she went along with their objection.
Obama's jets thus cooled, he eventually drifted away and hooked up with Michelle.
I think it was happening, however, that Barry Obama--raised in a definitely non-African-American environment--probably became gut-aware of the realities of being an African-American at about the same time he met Michelle...but independently of a specific conscious decision to abandon a specific white woman for a specific black woman.
A recent tele-bio of Alice Walker indicates that she did, indeed, make a specific conscious decision to divorce her Jewish husband in order to be more acceptable as a black-consciousness voice in the 70s (despite the fact that her Jewish husband was an active lawyer for Civil Rights actions and had his own legitimate Civil Rights bona fides).
There was a time when we had more black people living in rural areas than we do now. When did this shift happen? Now you still have rural black Americans in the south (e.g., go to a small town in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina and you'll have rural towns that are virtually all White or virtually all Black), that said, the majority of us live in urban areas or we live within the city limits of whatever city it is that we live in. Where do you see the rural Black population in the future?
I would say the shift of rural to urban took place in ernest during WWII. Manufacturing for the military, factories needed alot of people. The first Great Migration sent many Blacks to the cities. The 2nd Great Migration(the one my grandparents were part of) meant Blacks were not only going to the cities in larger numbers, but to more places.
Before, Black Americans were going to NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis. Some made it out to California(mainly the Bay Area). 2nd Great Migration, Blacks were not only leaving the South for the Boswash and Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Chicago, they were going to Milwaukee(my father's hometown), Kansas City, Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Upstate New York. Outside of Atlanta and New Orleans, most of the South saw a decrease in its Black population between 1940-1970. Alot of Blacks and Creoles from Louisiana moved to California.
As for the rural Black population, this what I see. Age will likely be a factor. As with rural White areas, age will mean more old people die. Most young people today are leaving these areas when they have the chance. The rural, predominantly Black areas with decreasing population are mainly in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama. There are a few in Georgia. However, South Carolina seems to have the fewest. I think it will be a matter of "where". Mississippi is bleeding population from its rural, predominantly Black areas, particularly in the Delta region. Same goes for Alabama's Black Belt, and part of Georgia's Black Belt region.
I would say the shift of rural to urban took place in ernest during WWII. Manufacturing for the military, factories needed alot of people. The first Great Migration sent many Blacks to the cities. The 2nd Great Migration(the one my grandparents were part of) meant Blacks were not only going to the cities in larger numbers, but to more places.
Before, Black Americans were going to NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis. Some made it out to California(mainly the Bay Area). 2nd Great Migration, Blacks were not only leaving the South for the Boswash and Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Chicago, they were going to Milwaukee(my father's hometown), Kansas City, Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Upstate New York. Outside of Atlanta and New Orleans, most of the South saw a decrease in its Black population between 1940-1970. Alot of Blacks and Creoles from Louisiana moved to California.
As for the rural Black population, this what I see. Age will likely be a factor. As with rural White areas, age will mean more old people die. Most young people today are leaving these areas when they have the chance. The rural, predominantly Black areas with decreasing population are mainly in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama. There are a few in Georgia. However, South Carolina seems to have the fewest. I think it will be a matter of "where". Mississippi is bleeding population from its rural, predominantly Black areas, particularly in the Delta region. Same goes for Alabama's Black Belt, and part of Georgia's Black Belt region.
Pretty much the same factors affect white migration to the cities, delayed (if at all) only to the extent that a greater percentage of rural whites were rural owners rather than hired laborers. Blacks have moved according to their perceived options just as whites move.
Pretty much the same factors affect white migration to the cities, delayed (if at all) only to the extent that a greater percentage of rural whites were rural owners rather than hired laborers. Blacks have moved according to their perceived options just as whites move.
Similar, but with a few differences. Rural Whites can be found anywhere in the USA. It is much rarer to find Blacks in rural areas once you're outside of the South. One major factor that Whites didn't have to deal with was Jim Crow. There were Whites from Appalachia moving to the Midwest, and Blacks from the Deep South moving to the Midwest. Many Appalachian Whites moved back to Appalachia whenever layoffs in the factories took place. Blacks working in northern factories rarely went back to the rural South. Blacks are moving to the South in large numbers, especially after 1970. However, it is the urban areas such as Atlanta and Charlotte they are moving to. For many Whites coming from rural areas, it was for jobs. For Blacks, it was for jobs, and to get away from the Jim Crow racism of the South.
Urban decline of the 70s was also around the time drugs flooded major cities. More people went to the suburbs. As soon as many middle class Blacks, they too went to the suburbs, or other parts of cities.
Similar, but with a few differences. Rural Whites can be found anywhere in the USA. It is much rarer to find Blacks in rural areas once you're outside of the South. One major factor that Whites didn't have to deal with was Jim Crow. There were Whites from Appalachia moving to the Midwest, and Blacks from the Deep South moving to the Midwest. Many Appalachian Whites moved back to Appalachia whenever layoffs in the factories took place. Blacks working in northern factories rarely went back to the rural South. Blacks are moving to the South in large numbers, especially after 1970. However, it is the urban areas such as Atlanta and Charlotte they are moving to. For many Whites coming from rural areas, it was for jobs. For Blacks, it was for jobs, and to get away from the Jim Crow racism of the South.
Go back to what I said, though:
"...only to the extent that a greater percentage of rural whites were rural owners rather than hired laborers."
Of course, it was Jim Crow and the Jim Crow attitude that created the situation--I'm certainly not denying that.
But black people did not migrate to the cities and remain there because we have a racially genetic disposition to live stacked upon one another like battery hens. Our movements have been toward perceived better opportunities--just like white people.
Urban decline of the 70s was also around the time drugs flooded major cities. More people went to the suburbs. As soon as many middle class Blacks, they too went to the suburbs, or other parts of cities.
You are now seeing this trend of blacks moving to the outskirts of the city with Washington D.C. and Atlanta. You are also seeing it with more medium sized metropolitan areas like Birmingham.
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Rural Black populations
