The Great Migration and the Democratic Party: Black Voters and the Realignment of American Politics in the 20th Century
Where Black people live has long been an important determinant of their ability to participate in political processes. The Great Migration significantly changed the way Democratic Party elites interacted with Black communities in northern cities, Detroit, New York, and Chicago. Many white Democratic politicians came to believe the growing pool of Black voters could help them reach their electoral goals--and these politicians often changed their campaign strategies and positions to secure Black support. Furthermore, Black migrants were able to participate in politics because there were fewer barriers to Black political participations outside the South.
The Great Migration and the Democratic Party frames the Great Migration as an important economic and social event that also had serious political consequences. Keneshia Grant created one of the first listings of Black elected officials that classifies them based on their status as participants in the Great Migration. She also describes some of the policy/political concerns of the migrants. The Great Migration and the Democratic Party lays the groundwork for ways of thinking about the contemporary impact of Black migration on American politics.
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--Kimberley Johnson, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at the Wagner School, New York University, and author of Reforming Jim Crow: Southern Politics and State in the Age before Brown
"Scholars have long analyzed the Great Migration's social and economic effects on U.S. cities. In this well-documented study, Keneshia Grant goes where few scholars have gone before, by focusing on the Great Migration's significant political consequences on U.S. cities. Using in-depth case studies and historical analysis, Grant demonstrates how the massive influx of Black migrants from the South transformed local political regimes in Detroit, Chicago, and New York. She paints a vivid portrait of the political agency of Black migrants from the South, including many who won election to local, state, and federal offices in their adopted cities."
--Marion Orr, Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science, Brown University, and co-editor of Latino Mayors: Political Change in the Postindustrial City (Temple).
