Stefan Nikolic
(Post 2 of 5)
After reconstruction failed in the late 1870s African Americans wanted to relocate themselves from the south. The article “Selling the American dream myth to black southerner as: the Chicago Defender and the great migration of 1915-1919” by Alan DeSantis covers the reasons why the majority of African Americans flocked to the north east. He covers many theories, but the three most relevant ones are the Push-pull economic theory, the socio-emotional theory, and the Chicago Defender theory.
The Push-Pull economic theory, also known as economic determinism, states that economic standing motivated the migration. It is also called the Push-Pull theory because many of the African Americans were pushed out of their communities due to unfair treatment ad pulled towards the cities because they harbored more opportunities of success. This is a trend we see often in our class, people leaving their undesirable homes for more opportunities in the city. The counters to this theory are that it over simplifies the Africa Americans’ reasons for leaving. This led to the creation of another theory has less to do with economics and more social reasons for migration. The socio-emotional theory states that the political climate and racist institutions in the south drove the African Americans away. These are the two most popular theories but DeSantis believes the content of the Chicago Defender helped influence migration. The Chicago Defender became widely popular in Chicago, and then spread across the United States. It was one of the first newspapers that appealed to a diverse demographic of blacks, not just intellectuals. The paper became so popular that, “Copies of the Defender often were shared among family members, friends, church congregations, and even members of other communities who could not afford the luxury of buying a newspaper.” The Defender had such a large reach that even those who couldn’t afford the paper were still able to read the paper. Even if you couldn’t get your hands on the paper by these means, it was read at public institutions such as church, barbershops, and saloons.
The author uses mythic criticism to establish his argument that the Chicago Defender used the idea of the American Dream to bring migrants to the north. He sets the American Dream as a myth with eight themes which were covered by the paper. His argument is very strong as he goes into depth with specific articles from the defender that embody these themes. He proves that the Chicago Defender had a huge influence on migration to the north.
Questions
- Why would the North embody the American Dream better than the South?
- Why did everyone care so much about what the Defender had to say?
