In the early 1900s, migration to the north was painted as a utopia for Blacks in the south — but that was not accurate.

“It was not easy, but the obstacles, oppressions and subjugation does not define African Americans. It is a part of their story, but the beauty of the story is overcoming these seemingly insurmountable odds,” said Kelton Edmonds, a professor of history at Pennsylvania Western University and an education coordinator for the Westmoreland Historical Society.

Edmonds will lead a discussion on Saturday at The Westmoreland History Education Center in Greensburg’s Historic Hanna’s Town to launch its Black History Month celebration.

“The Great Migration — a Century Later,” will talk about the pros and cons of making the mass movement. Edmonds will emphasize how Black people were not necessarily welcomed with open arms and look at the impact the movement had on American cities. Attendees will get to hear the accounts of specific Black Americans like Walter Hill and have the opportunity to ask questions.

TribLive spoke to Edmonds in advance of the discussion.

What exactly happened during the Great Migration?

I would contend it is the most transformative period for African Americans in the 20th Century and almost 2 million of them left something that they knew — in terms of the rural south and what their parents and grandparents had done for so long in terms of agriculture — and they seemingly go to an unknown.

They go to the north, not just the north but the urban north. When we look at 1900, 90% of all African Americans are rural-based. By the year 2000, 90% of all African Americans are either in urban areas or the suburbs. So we can point directly to the great migration as the catalyst that changed those demographics.

How does the Great Migration impact cities and society?

The migration impacted the economic system — the ways these cities thrived in terms of housing and the jobs that they would engage in … various ways that they are able to organize drastically alters the economy. Many African Americans were in this sharecropping/debt peonage system. In the south, they were basically working for free again because of these predatory loans given to them by landowners. In the north, they are able to make a living wage and support their families. We see significant Black working class and a Black middle class evolve from this migration, which benefits the Black people but has ramifications for the broader cities and broader states at large as well.

There is also a cultural impact. When so many migrants are coming from so many places combined with people who are already there, it is like this beautiful pot of gumbo and we see this cultural blossoming as well. That is why we see the Harlem Renaissance, the boom of jazz, and so many other artistic components in cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Milwaukee — but the list goes on.

Since the creation of the Black middle class with the Great Migration why has it decreased today?

The decrease of the Black middle class comes from deindustrialization. Pittsburgh is the perfect example — a lot of industries are grounded in cities and when industries leave those jobs, and when African Americans are largely based in these areas, you have to reimagine where work comes from.

A lot of these Black communities were left in dismal situations and it has been an uphill climb to reestablish the Black middle class and upper working class since then.

African Americans, even though they migrated in significant numbers, are still marginalized in terms of power and controlling institutions. White workers in large parts — unless there is a surplus of jobs — see these Black workers as competitors, so that breeds angst and racial hostility.

What was the response to Black migrants?

The white industrialists and capitalists welcomed the migration of this new cheap labor force. There’s a lot of racial violence that culminated in 1919 with the Red Summer and racial riots in the cities that Black people migrated to, burning of homes and lynching. White southern land owners were also displeased with Black people leaving — the loss of free labor and a scapegoat. But white southerners were also pleased with a large group of people that they despised leaving.

In the north, there were also established African Americans who were hesitant to welcome the new coming African Americans, because everyone was thinking ‘Well what does this mean for me?’

African Americans were an easy scapegoat. The Jim Crow laws had been formulated around them to supplement this idea of white privilege, so the idea of removing such a large segment of African Americans, many felt would disrupt the racial hierarchy in the south.

How does the story of African American migrants correlate to the story of immigration today?

So one thing I want to really invoke in this discussion is there is a lot of overlap between what happens with Black migration with the migration of so many other groups historically in this country. So many groups are faced with discrimination and looked at as an easy target for exploitation when they come over. Probably everyone in the audience will have an ancestor who had to overcome certain situations. It just so happens that for African Americans, that idea of oppression and harming is longer. That is part of the American narrative of what immigrants or migrants have to do in terms of making that transition to what they believe will be a better life.

How did Black migrants move to particular neighborhoods?

There is an idea by force and by choice of the neighborhood that migrants end up in. Some of them don’t have an option but to move into a particular section of the city because of restrictive covenants, redlining and steering that says that they can only live in the southeastern part of a particular city, for example. There is also this idea that at times, you desire to move into places where people of your ethnicity already reside. That breaks down the language and cultural barriers; it creates a soft landing. The neighborhoods they end up in are a major point of discussion.

What do you hope audience members take away from the discussion?

The African American experience is such a powerful story. It has all the virtues of what we consider to be a grandiose epic story. It has resiliency, it has this idea of being the underdog, making lemonade or sometimes champagne out of lemons. The African American experience of making the best out of something is a very American story and should inspire everybody. Migration, a movement of people to new places for settlement, is the American story and we all share in that.

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