As a student from the north, often the struggle of the African American southerners migrating is left out in our history lessons. However upon reading Isabel Wilkerson’s introduction of The Warmth of Other Suns, I get a clearer picture of what the transition was like for them. Wilkerson paints a clear description of how foreign the North was for the African Americans, as well as the difficulties they faced with the Jim Crowe Laws in effect.
The most meaningful line that Isabel Wilkerson says about the Great Migration is “they did what human beings looking for freedom, throughout history, have often done; they left.” The concept that over six million African Americans left the South to come to the North is fascinating considering they are moving within the same country. For me the idea that coming to the North offered them a better lifestyle, shows that the Civil War had not really ended, but rather its after effects were still in place. The “unmet promises of the Civil War” pushed so many African Americans North, that they actually changed the dynamic of the countries cities and suburbs. In our previous reading, Katz also touches on this point, stating that the Great Migration transformed the definition of the modern day city.
I love how instead of just generally speaking about the General Migration and using facts and data, Wilkerson uses real examples of people who went through this. Her story leaves the effect of being both more personal and effective in understanding the transition of the Great Migration. For instance the story of Ida Mae was so detailed, from her emotions about spending time with her father to being left out at school; her story was relatable and as a reader made me more interested in her writing Wilkerson’s approach to make this personal was a smart choice, because she twists this historic topic into a riveting story that keeps you engaged. I really like her writing style, because these stories are something that I know I will not forget, in comparison to a heavy statistical oriented piece.
This piece also focuses on immigration which is something that is close to almost all Americans, because most of us have families that have migrated from different parts of the world. There was a “window out of the asylum” for many people, and a lot of that meant dealing with the same issues that Ida Mae and her family dealt with.
Last but not least, for further discussion in class I would like to talk about why this topic is given so much less importance than it deserves in our public schools? Why was there so much distortion of the African Americans from the south with their poverty and education level? Were there any other underlying factors that caused them to move besides the points that Wilkerson touched on?
