57 Comments
Gage Gamboa
11/19/2013 07:31:08 am
While reading the excerpt I thought of a connection from the excerpt and Sweat. The connection I thought of was how Sykes and the South both abused and mistreated those they relied on the most (Delia and the Southern Blacks) and expected them to stay. I also thought it was interesting how many of those who took place in the Great Migration did not believe that they were taking place in something bigger, but that they were just moving to a new location for greater freedoms.
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Scott Buckley
11/19/2013 08:15:35 am
A quote from the reading really struck me. It was on the third page, about half-way down. A newspaper had posed the question: "If you thought you might be lynched by mistake, would you stay in South Carolina?" It was really interesting because it made it seem like an even more-so terrible place to be than the people in the south were depicted as.
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Erik Salazar
11/19/2013 08:30:27 am
What I found really interesting about this excerpt was how important the blacks really were in the South. They fueled the economy by doing the "paid" labor on plantations a and when plantation owners soon saw that their work force was leaving in drones they immediately wanted to make sure blacks stayed to continue working. Blacks had more power than they thought. If they were able to organize a strike from working similar to the Montgomery bus boycotts they could have achieved just what Martin Luther king jr did, 50 years earlier.
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Salina
11/19/2013 12:28:17 pm
I really like your writing and how you connected to Martin Luther King Jr. I wonder if they didn't leave and just held a strike if we would be at the same place we are today?
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Quentin Jackson
11/19/2013 08:31:51 am
It's interesting the way that, for all of the mis-treatment and contempt from southerners, that on a deep level, they needed african americans, and would faulter without them. Never mind the fact that getting white workers wouldn't be that hard, it impresses me just how obvious they were in their efforts to stop the migration. Nothing really says subtlety like ripping up purchased tickets for no reason.
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Tyler Felix
11/19/2013 09:04:03 am
When reading this text I was shocked to hear that in Albany, Georgia, police tore up the tickets of colored passengers waiting to board the train. It just goes to show that people in the South were still desperate for African American workers, and wouldn't be able to function without them. I found it immensely unfair how police used their power. Instead of ruining someones life, they should be helping the ones in need of it. Ripping up a ticket is the same as tormenting someone.
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Anthony Williams
11/19/2013 09:16:58 am
When reading this, I found it interesting on how it showed the South putting so much effort in keeping the blacks in the south, but not nearly as much effort in actually doing the labor that they required. I found the quote "When the people kept leaving, the South resorted to coercion and interception worthy of the Soviet Union" especially impacting because it shows how much the South had grown to rely upon slave labor and how much they took slaves for granted and now that they are leaving in large numbers, how their whole system begins to fall apart without slave labor
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Malia M.
11/19/2013 09:25:00 am
This excerpt really illustrated how valuable the blacks were to the South. Cheap black labor was the backbone of the Southern economy. The slaves were beaten down and discriminated against. The great migration was really an awakening of the power they had. They could choose to leave and change their lives. I did find it startling that police officers would rip up their tickets and not let them board buses. I thought about how hard it must have been so difficult to just up and leave.
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Rachel Deaton
11/19/2013 10:20:54 am
That ticked me off when the police officers ripped the tickets and didn't let them on too! Great post!
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Lance Shuler
11/19/2013 09:48:21 am
It blows my mind that the south basically pushed the blacks out. Though they were needed to fuel the economy, they were basically forced out. With the low amounts of jobs, and especially anti-abolitionists, I could see why they were willing to leave.
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Carly
11/19/2013 09:55:17 am
I found that there were parts of this excerpt that were almost funny.
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Rachel Deaton
11/19/2013 10:19:37 am
I agree you with! I was laughing when they found out they needed them back.
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Sophia C.
11/19/2013 10:02:44 am
While reading this excerpt from The Warmth of Other Suns, it really dawned on me just how gigantic a migration was going on. Also, I had never realized how long this was going on for. it kept saying it was a while, but this section really cemented that idea. I almost felt sorry for the South when it was talking about how desperate they were for the labor, but then I kept remembering/knowing why the blacks were leaving and that the people who wanted the labor were only being nice for as long as it took to get the labor back, then they would return to their horrible atrocities. Is it still true to this day that way way more blacks live in the North than the South?
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Shannon Carlson
11/19/2013 10:02:50 am
It was so interesting to see the importance that the african american community had on the south. The "whites" didn't realize just how important they were until they had left. It just goes to show that you must appreciate everything because once it leaves, sometimes you can't have it back.
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Rilind
11/19/2013 10:12:47 am
Yep-Never take anything for granted because it can leave just as easy as this. The south really underestimated them
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Rilind
11/19/2013 10:11:46 am
I think that the South underestimated the blacks. They treated them so terribly, and didn't expect them to ever leave, even though they discriminated them and gave them such little in return for their hard work. Once they left, the south got a taste of their own medicine. I also think that the fact that they all left around the same time really hit the south in the face, and they had no idea what to do. Although it was a tough journey to get to the north, with many people still discriminating them, I think it was a new beginning for them as soon as they got there.
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Rachel Deaton
11/19/2013 10:18:57 am
After reading this I thought that the African Americans fighting back was so cool! The Southern Whites found out that they needed them to come back. I thought that they were just so stupid that they didn't realize that they are both equal races. They offered to pay more and with better working conditions. I was proud of the African Americans for fighting for what they want and proving the whites wrong. Finally, those southern folk know the truth of equality.
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Sabrina
11/19/2013 10:21:55 am
This reading really drew a connection, for myself at least, to the Great Gatsby. If we relate East and West Egg to the white South , things are displayed in a new light. Like the rich of East and West Egg were oblivious to lives others less fortunate, so were the white Southerns to the black Southerns. It was only when the blacks left that the South realized not only that they in fact where alive this whole but in fact were not only needed, but yes wanted! Whether this same situation is happening today in our culture could be debated, but I'm sure in a hundred years the truth will really come out, similar to the reveal in this reading.
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Ryan Martinez
11/19/2013 10:23:02 am
From this reading I was interested in how much our police has changed, from the era that this was written to current days. From the story it said that police in Albany were very abusive in their power. They would rip up the train tickets for blacks, so they weren't able to travel at all. I think that this was a way for of showing that blacks still weren't equal to white people. What I think is just terrible is that this ruined so many opportunities for blacks to get jobs in other places of the nation. They just seemed to stay in the same area with the police ripping up their tickets.
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Preston Royal
11/19/2013 10:24:26 am
When reading this excerpt, I was utterly fascinated by the extreme caliber of the events taking place. With the Jim Crow Laws constricting the African Americans lifestyles, it was a very hard way to live when you see white people that can do what you can't. One quote that really stuck out to me was, "As the North grows blacker, the South grows whiter,". I think this really stuck out to me because it had always been the opposite. The black men and women would live down south, while the rich white were up north. So when reading this for the first time, I was rather confused on what that meant. After reading it couple times, I came to the conclusion that it means that the african americans were able to do things that whites only could do before. Though, whites can still do more, they weren't happy with the fact that everybody and do anything, or at least thats how I saw it.
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Jackson Walker
11/19/2013 10:30:58 am
American culture between back then and now is so very different. Back then, not only was it expectable to act on racist ideas, but the government did so as well. It was shocking to realize that even government facilities were aiding in the land-locking of African Americans, paid for by taxes. Now days, if actions such as tickets being ripped up happened, someone would no doubt film it and the cop / police station would be reprimanded (if the government allowed a case for it). Its almost ironic what made the people so worried to have to take it to that point- that the African Americans were leaving! Its laughable how they first acted as though they were happy with the change, only to turn around and beg on their knees. To me, it sounds like a story where the underdog has won.
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Crystal Delgado
11/19/2013 10:45:11 am
I thought this excerpt was unique and really cool. It talked about how important African Americans were and how much the country relied on them. They did the majority of the heavy labor while the white people did the not so heavy labor in those times. I can see why the white people panicked when the African Americans were refusing to do it now and the South was in a panic.
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Meilani
11/19/2013 11:02:59 am
This excerpt was really interesting in showing how much the South needed the blacks, but the blacks didn't need them. Despite their needs, the South continued with their behavior that has obviously driven the blacks away, in stubborn thinking. It is also interesting to see how the two conflicting areas, the North and South, go about during this period. Especially when the South attempted to restrict travel into the North, which is crazy because they are just traveling through the country and not into another one.
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Rachel Maristela
11/19/2013 11:03:00 am
I thought this reading was interesting because of the facet that blacks were now able to move out of the South and migrate into different parts of the country. It felt like they were stuck in a cage and they fought back to go free. It really shocked me when the reading mentioned that many cities ripped train tickets and randomly arrested black people regardless of where they were going. I just thought that was very stupid of them to do that, because they are ruining their chances to freedom. But what I do find really funny is the fact that most of the workers were able to go into other parts of the countries leaving the white crying for laborers. Why couldn't they just do the work?
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casper Norrman Rasmussen
11/19/2013 11:15:42 am
I find it crazy, that immigrants still wanted to move, but even though they were hated, and nobody wanted to help them. also that they was living in fear by the government, and they would still think it was worth more, forget all from their own country, and then just for the chance of a better life.
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Paris Gramann
11/20/2013 09:00:35 am
It is interesting. I think it is like trading one evil for another -- just picking the lesser of the two in their minds maybe... or again, it could go back to that word "hope". :)
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Andrew Ledezma
11/19/2013 11:44:11 am
I find it very interesting that even though the rich, white Southerners hated Black Americans, they we still very necessary. I found this ironic because of all of the racism and Jim Crowe laws in the South. When the Great Migration was taking place, the rich, white plantation owners began to realize how deep-rooted and important Black American labor was. They were hurting because nobody else was willing to work for such cheap wages, and that is extremely ironic. The tables were beginning to turn and the past was finally starting to creep up on the powerful white land owners.
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Sophia K
11/19/2013 12:03:35 pm
It was very upsetting to read that the police officers would rip up the tickets of the people who were African American. First of all they are people and it’s just scary that even if something was wrong they couldn’t go to the police for help. What would happen if something like a murder happened would they just blame the crime on African Americans? Also just thinking how messed up the system was back then.
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Salina
11/19/2013 12:25:27 pm
I found it very interesting how the Southerners in a way tried to prevent the Blacks from leaving, by ripping up there bus/train tickets so they weren't allowed aboard. This showed how much the White people needed the Blacks in the South. The Blacks did all of the hard work and labor, while the White folks just bossed people around. It showed how necessary it was to have them in order for the White people to continue living the way they did. The Whites feared that they may have to start paying the Blacks more or do the work themselves. Once Blacks rebelled or left the South the White people's luxury lives would be lost.
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Trey Lewis
11/19/2013 01:03:34 pm
I felt like there was connection between the migration here and the migration from England when the colonies first started. The migration when the colonies first started was really just religious freedom and fleeing controlling government. So the difference would have been that the migration from the south was a lot more due to abuse, and quite frankly was a lot worse than what the people in England were going through. Although there are differences there is also a strong connection. They were people fleeing a situation in which they felt uncomfortable and unsafe in. These were people that wanted to change and acted upon it.
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Trevin Kraus
11/19/2013 01:07:08 pm
In reading this excerpt I was taken back by the whole overall story. The Great Migration took place in the early to mid 1900's. It was a Migration of millions of African Americans who migrated out of the south into the other regions of America. I was taken by this because why did it take so long for them to move? They had been given many rights already so why at this time did they all decide to move out of the south. I understand that there were many opportunities arising such as work on the railroads and the growth of new cities but I still do not understand why it took so long. They had been treated poorly for so long why didn't they try to migrate as soon as they could?
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Meranda Knowles
11/19/2013 01:27:11 pm
I thought that the part where the south changed it's opinion was really interesting. Especially the quote from David L. Cohn "With all our crimes of omission and commission, we still retain a marked affection for the Negro." I just couldn't believe it. With all the things they have done to Blacks, all the hate the south had against them, they are now trying to get the blacks to believe that they feel affection towards them?
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Ysabella Dawson
11/19/2013 01:32:27 pm
I thought that this was very interesting too, and you brought up a very good point here.
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Ysabella Dawson
11/19/2013 01:30:09 pm
I thought that the most interesting part of this excerpt, and the piece that I found most striking, was when the farmers in the south suddenly ran out of laborers. The African Americans had been under their fists for so long, and the had gotten so used to paying them low wages and giving them no freedoms that when they left everyone remaining felt the void they left behind. They never really knew how lucky they were to have the workers they had, and didn't realize how much they relied on the people they mistreated. And after all of the people they had abused left for better places, the people still in the south went to such drastic lengths to keep the African Americans in the south without withdrawing the restrictions that caused them to leave in the first place.
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11/19/2013 02:13:38 pm
The warmth of other suns is about an American Migration. This took place in 1915-1970. This was happening to black citizens who fled to the South to search for a better life. Their new lives lived in colonies that grew into the ghetto. They changed their new cities with food, faith and culture. This was also called the Shameful period in American history. Why couldn't have they migrated as soon as possible? I would if people were treating me the way they were treating them.
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Lisa Valtierra
11/19/2013 02:18:38 pm
While writing this except, I thought it was interesting how African Americans were seen as practically nothing in society, yet they were so necessary. They were paid 50 cents and that was seen as a good pay and they could stay there for long periods of time, yet that was not even close to what other people that weren't African American were getting paid. I found it really vacuous that Whites even said that they were such good workers because they would work twice as hard, yet they didn't require much pay, it's sort of sicking to see that people treated actual human beings that way. It was interesting to see Blacks move towards the North and how their life changed there, but what I found kind of aggravating was how people in the South took this news. They were appalled with such thought, which made me realize how much the South actually needed the Blacks, not the other way around.
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Sarah Hardin
11/19/2013 02:29:35 pm
I found this piece really interesting. Things are really heating up so to speak! The decrease of labor work from African Americans caused such trouble, and gave them more (and undeserved) negative attention. However, the most striking part of this for me was the fact that it took about 50+ years for a mass of black people in the south to move north after the civil war! You would think that after the civil war and the birth of the KKK, it would be the logical thing to do. However, I can see their perspective in terms of not being able to just up and go somewhere in the late 1800s because transportation was not as convenient. And then there was that industrial period when work was scarce in areas like New York.... It's still kind of mind blowing to think that this was one of the turning points, 50 some odd years later. It took this much longer after the civil war to stir up something in the south!
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Hayes Sherr
11/19/2013 02:38:17 pm
This excerpt was about the African American's migrating from South into other parts of America. The blacks were treated horrible, they had more power than they thought they had. but didn't know how to use it. They moved to find a better life, but in reality there wasn't anything better about it. African Americans had no freedom. Officers would rip their tickets from their hands and tear them into pieces not letting them go on the bus.
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Vivian Mason
11/19/2013 02:47:19 pm
When reading "The Warmth of Other Suns." I started to revel in how accurately the title fit this piece of work. Here are these African-Americans having ansesters that worked under the same sun, more than likely in the same place, Ancestors that fought hard for blacks to have the same rights as white in these areas. Yet they wish to move to a large city where they would more than likely know no one and begin all over again the fight to defend there rights, due to skin color. That takes guts and perseverance. I am awed by these peoples dedication and the hardships they went through.
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Jessica Pollock
11/19/2013 02:56:55 pm
Something that struck me in this passage was how fast blacks packed their stuff and moved from the South to the North. They explained it as "the trickle that became a stream had now become a river." This explains how fast immigrants were coming in to the North. They say that about 555,000 blacks left during the First World War decade. This amazes me because that is a lot of people leaving their homes and where they came from and just moving to the North.
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Hank Sherr
11/19/2013 03:31:21 pm
The Blacks thought they were going to have a better life in the beginning, but when they travel they had nothing of this in mind. One part I thought was striking was when it said, they had nothing to eat, no clothes, no shoes, and they couldn't get any work to do. They start to leave, just as fast as they can get away. If they were able to get work, it would be 50 cents a day, and they would stay there. Seeing all these people happy to have a new life is sad because none of what they expected was going to happen to them. Blacks would start to leave and when they did, jobs that the other people needed would get done, so it started slowing down.
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Justin Walker
11/19/2013 03:35:59 pm
The titanic magnitude of the migration really dawned upon me after reading the accounts of the escapees. They were willing to leave behind their families, friends, possessions, and homes simply for a chance at a better life. Even when given low-paying jobs and poor housing conditions, the blacks which escaped the racist south were far better off. Living as a black in the South was a death sentence, for a single misstep could result in one being murdered by a racist mob. The black people were stuck between a rock and a hard place, so taking the best option seemed logical.
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11/19/2013 03:46:22 pm
The 194,000 Blacks from the first decade of the Twenty Century would not leave the south if they did not know where they were going, But isn't it worth it to just leave the South in general with the hope that you will find somewhere to settle? Many were going to places like Harlem and North Philly because there was a lot going on at the time. I found this interesting because there were a lot of people leaving the south during this time because they knew that if they left, they could act how they want, be who they want, dress how they want etc. They whites were getting nervous because they were losing work. " The blacker the North got, the whiter the South got" Which was a problem.
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Alex Demos
11/19/2013 03:49:46 pm
After reading this section of the excerpt I found it interesting how many measures people went through to either contain black labor workers from leaving the South or to go through in order TO leave the South. Those who wanted to keep the labor workers for themselves would try to regulate how many blacks would leave by expelling newspapers from being sold from the North and even stopping ticket sales for those who wanted to board trains. Those who wanted to leave would have to move from station to station varying on how many security guards there were, and with extreme conditions have to disguise themselves to look like someone else. I wonder how many other creative ways people thought up to apply when they wanted to move.
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Sarah Olson
11/19/2013 04:03:52 pm
It was interesting to read from the south's perspective on the "colored exodus" taking place, because the southerners were so desperate to get their workforce back they literally prevented colored people from boarding trains. The Great Migration had so much more of an effect on history than the credit is given. I'm enjoying reading about it because it's completely new to me. I wonder what it would have been like to be raised during the migration and watch the country being reshaped around you.
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John Engel III
11/19/2013 04:10:06 pm
One event that sparked the great migration was World War 1. During the great migration 194,000 blacks left the south and settled in harlem and north Philadelphia. Most of the blacks fled to the north for new job opportunities in the north at places such as steel meals and railroads.As the blacks left the people in the south started to realize they needed them back in oder to run there businesses.
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Adrian Schnepp
11/19/2013 04:17:32 pm
I found it intriguing and more than a little bit sickening how the Southern elite, the merchants and plantation owners, saw this migration taking place, this exodus due to the horrifying racial discrimination going on at the time, saw how their economy would be crippled because of this event (for shareropping relies on the exploitation of the African American worker), and yet, the thought of enticing these people back by treating them as something more dumb animals never even crossed their minds. It speaks a lot about the ideologies of these people of how blinded they were by their judgement, their prejudice, and their bloated sense of superiority. I honestly can't blame these African Americans for trying to escape, to try and put as much distance as humanely possible between themselves and the horribly corrupted culture of the American South.
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Karen Barragan
11/19/2013 04:19:06 pm
What I found interesting about this except was how important blacks were. Although they weren't treated right, their need in society was very big. Southerners didn't know how much they needed them, until they began to leave. They began to do so much to keep them there, but were only pushing them away more. I just wonder if southerners needed them so badly, then why would they treat them so poorly? It doesn't make sense. I would've had so much respect for blacks, and appreciated their work, but I guess not everyone sees things the way I do.
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John Laine
11/19/2013 06:02:46 pm
The points that intrigued me in this excerpt was this quote "He does not want to leave but he knows he will starve. They have nothing to eat, no clothes, no shoes, and they can't get any work to do and they are leaving just as fast as they can get away. . . . If the negro race could get 50 cents a day he would stay there." To me this quote really caught my eye because when this was a southern whitens opinion on why they were leaving. When the real reason behind them fleeing was that they did not want to stay in such an oppressive environment. With the north having so much more promise I can see why they did not want to stay in the south.
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Chelsea
11/19/2013 09:49:01 pm
I thought it was interesting how the southerns realized that the African Americans were needed. But these poor people were only needed for the labor, they paid them such low wages and put them to work under terrible conditions, and the African Americans were the ones who would be working those jobs. Once the blacks started to leave, they realized they had no workers for these bussnisses, which is why they didn't want them to leave. "Black labor is the best labor the south can get. No one would work long under the same conditions." I think it's awful that this is why they wanted them to stay, I wouldn't blame these black for wanting to leave. I thought it was interesting how they changed the working conditions and said they had increased the pay in a way to bring the blacks back, but it didn't work.
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Julz Valencia
11/19/2013 10:36:39 pm
As I was reading this excerpt I found it very interesting how the south slowly began to realize how important the black were to labour force. When at first the South didn't really map anything of the blacks migrating to the North and they just thought that it was nothing. Overtime, however the South begins to realizes how crucial the labour the blacks provided was for them to prosper. I like the south finally began to see how they took advantage of the blacks, and thought that if they now raised wages and bettered working conditions they would come back. The South was wrong they did not come back. I also found it interesting that the north had recruiters at first to get black to travel north, and the south didn't like that at all, so they tried to fine these recruiters and have all these regulations and such for them. Then it was pointless for that even because the need for the recruiters wasn't needed when the blacks who had already migrated wrote back to family, with made them want to leave the south. I think it was about time the South got what it deserved.
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Cole Sargent
11/19/2013 10:46:23 pm
"A Georgia farmer near Albany this year laid aside his whip and gun, with which it is reported he has been accustomed to drive his hands, and begged for laborers," (Wilkerson 164). This quote struck me the most out of this excerpt, as I think it represents the South realizing their mistake very well. I also thought that the connection the author made between oppressed people and black people migrating this time having similar traits was both interesting and sad. Blacks tried to get as far away from the South as possible, while the plantation owners and rich farmers realized just how much they depended on their exploitation--it was great to read how their desperate attempts to reclaim their workforce went unanswered. The South had made horrible mistakes and done terrible things, and continued even then to do so. They got exactly what they deserved.
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Katie C
11/19/2013 11:00:10 pm
What I found increasingly interesting about this excerpt from the book is that they were so afraid to go north until they were forced to leave. They were afraid of a new unseen world that claimed to be on their side. And then when they began to leave those who ran big operations were loath to let them leave because they realized they needed the workforce.
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Tess Herzog
11/19/2013 11:06:29 pm
This reading was really interesting because of how much the south lost due to migration. No one else would do the work, so plantations had to shut down when the blacks left to go north. I thought it was fair for the south though, because they had mistreated blacks for so long and never had a consequence. Now, they are no longer benefiting. In fact, they were now losing their entire plantations, and out of a paycheck. Even when they tried to lure the people back, they would not come. The migrants had risked being arrested when they left, so I would not expect them to come back, especially if they were doing fine in the north. It was funny how the south thought they could just lure people back by supposedly raising wages and treating them better. The people were smarter than that. If someone mistreats you for a long period of time, it is highly unlikely that it is going to change.
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Grady Gumner
11/20/2013 12:35:38 am
I found it somewhat fascinating how even after slavery had been abolished for over 50 years, it took a great amount of bravery for a black person or family to leave the South and move to northern cities. I understand having comfort in where you live, but it's confusing that blacks wouldn't flock to the more progressive, northern cities. Wages in the south were low, and things were seemingly much better in the North.
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Paris Gramann
11/20/2013 08:59:12 am
I thought it was amazing how before the Jim Crow laws came into place, the people left less. It makes sense -- the people are more unhappy, so they leave. This whole passage reminds me of the saying, "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone." The plantation owners were saying how even though they treated the black laborers wrongly, they were the best of the best and they still liked them. They should not have the right to say that they liked them if they treated them so wrongly.
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Chris dang
11/20/2013 07:15:04 pm
It would seem that blacks have been rooted into southern economy so well now that is they left, the entire southern side of the US would collapse. I bet that some of the blacks there at the time also realized this but didn't know what to do about it. I know that the white plantation owners knew so they tried very hard to keep the blacks in the south. It didn't seem to work because the north looked so promising to blacks. This is what happens if you treat your ENTIRE work force horribly for generations. They pack up and leave and there is little you can do about it.
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