The Book’s Overall Topic
In the history of the US, Americans have been part of many relocation incidences seeking a better life, including the Dust Bowl and the Gold Rush. However, one large migration stands out of all of them: The Great Migration. The Great Migration included a significant number of individuals opting to leave the South and move to other parts of the country.
During this migration, more than six million Blacks left their homes in the South during the early and mid-20th century, fleeing Jim Crow and segregation. The people of color were seeking better in the north in cities such as Chicago, New York, Oakland, and Detroit (Leibbrand et al., 2020).
Isabel Wilkerson offers three firsthand accounts of African Americans, such as George Starling, Mae Gladney, and Dr. Robert Foster, on the motives that drove this massive relocation. This paper will review Wilkerson’s key portrayals of the Great Migration and how they impact an understanding of the current way of living in the United States. In addition, the evaluation will focus on the arguments presented within the book.
Author’s Background and Expertise
Born in 1961 in Washington DC, Wilkerson is currently a renowned American journalist and author of top books such as Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020) and The Warmth of Other Suns (2010). Her parents were among the African Americans who left the North (Virginia) during the Great Migration. During World War II, her father served as a Tuskegee Airman, but after the war, he worked as a bridge engineer. Living with people who experienced the migration firsthand proves that Isabel has what it takes to offer a clear and comprehensive view of what happened during that time.
Secondly, Wilkerson was and still is a renowned journalist in the US. She has published many articles and won many prizes, making her qualify as one who would offer a clear picture of what happened during the great migration. Reports indicate that at Howard University, Wilkerson pursued a career in journalism and rose to the position of chief editor of the student newspaper The Hilltop. She worked as an intern in college at newspapers like The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. She worked as a journalist in many firms and became a journalist lecturer at different universities.
Additionally, in 2008, Isabel became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism (Worland, 2020). All these qualifications show that Isabel has the expertise to make this book credible and realistic.
Explanation and Analysis of the Book’s Thesis
In her book, Wilkerson draws on the firsthand experiences of three Black Americans involved in the Great Migration: Mae Gladney, George Starling, and Dr. Robert Foster. She uses these three African Americans to advance readers’ understanding through her vivid, compelling prose and insight into the effects of the Great Migration on African Americans and American life. She makes readers feel the raw and restrictive racism that African Americans were escaping.
Some of the three African Americans’ stories indicate that they were subjected to racial discrimination that influenced them to relocate. For instance, George Swanson Starling escaped white mob violence because of his stance on better pay for Blacks. After organizing black fruit pickers in Florida to demand better pay, George Swanson Starling fled the state just in time to avoid being attacked by a white mob. “He himself had stared death in the face in Florida and felt sadness and awe at whatever drove them to steal onto a train this way” (Wilkerson, 2010, p. 301). Just because he was Black, the system treated him like he did not say in fighting for his rights.
On the other hand, Ida Mae Brandon, a Mississippi sharecropper, felt her life was ending due to an invisible hand that rules all Black lives in Chickasaw County. This hand made it clear in society that Whites “were in charge and colored people were under them and had to obey them like a child in those days had to obey a parent…” (Wilkerson, 2010, p. 33). They were the superior race, and despite his medical credentials, Dr. Robert Joseph Pershing Foster was encountering Louisiana’s excruciatingly low bar for black professional opportunities.
For instance, at one time, he went to a “big industrialist-shipping conglomerate, to see what possibilities there might be for a medical position. He came back empty” (Wilkerson, 2010, p. 232). He could not get an opportunity because he was an African American (Leibbrand et al., 2020). All these individuals enjoyed little freedom because they were Black, just like other African Americans.
The relocation also altered American life and culture. Before it started, the South was home to almost all the nation’s Black population. When the massive movement ended in the 1960s, the North was home to around half of all black Americans. In addition to many smaller cities, the diaspora altered Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Chicago (Leibbrand et al., 2020). As a result, jazz, the blues, and Pentecostalism became widespread cultural trends. Additionally, with the massive infusion of new African American constituents in different politicians’ backyards, the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s was likely.
Book’s Intended Audience
The first intended audience for this book is African Americans and other minor races in the US. Despite encountering significant issues due to their race, this book reminds Blacks to keep fighting against racial injustices they are encountering and why they should not lose hope. The second target audience is the whites, who are reminded about the experiences their ancestors put Blacks through and why changes are needed to make society better.
Assessment of the Book’s Argument
Wilkerson’s book argued that African Americans encountered several Jim Crow laws and brutalities and were seeking safety, better pay, and more freedom. Throughout the book, Isabel uses three Blacks who were part of the Great Migration. George was seeking better pay and safety, Ida Mae Brandon was seeking freedom, and Dr. Robert Joseph Pershing Foster sought more opportunities. All these explain the motives for the Great Migration.
An Analysis of the Book’s Arrangement
Wilkerson’s book’s arrangement is effective and supports its goals. For instance, Isabel arranges the book into five parts, each with varying chapters. Each chapter is arranged in an order that offers the story of the Great Migration. For instance, before introducing the three characters, Isabel first offers her readers background information about the Great Migration. Isabel also includes direct quotes in her illustrations to show that the story is from first-hand victims.
Contribution of the Book to Understanding Lived Experience in the US Today
Firstly, the atrocities of slavery, the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and the Emancipation Proclamation were all topics of conversation at the time, and there was some awareness among us. Nonetheless, we generally assumed that inequalities and violence were confined to a few seedy areas in the South.
Additionally, our current racialized split is extensive because we have diverse backgrounds in the country, leading to different social groups. Not just us but also our parents, grandparents, and generations that predate us by hundreds of years. We have been apart since the beginning of slavery, so it makes sense that standing together now is not a given.
References
Leibbrand, C., Massey, C., Alexander, J. T., Genadek, K. R., & Tolnay, a. S. (2020). The great migration and residential segregation in American cities during the twentieth century. Social science history, 44(1), 19-55. Web.
Wilkerson, I. (2010). The warmth of other suns: The epic story of America’s great migration. Random House.
Worland, J. (2020). ‘‘Racism’ did not seem sufficient.’ Author Isabel Wilkerson on the American caste system. Time. Web.