The impact of Urbanization pon Black America.

What has been the affect of urbanization upon African Americans? In 1920, the vast majority of blacks were Southern and rural. The great migration, which lasted from around 1920 to around 1970, brought millions of blacks to Northern industrial cities seeking a better life. By 1980 80% of black people were living in urban, as opposed to rural, environs. Today, although most blacks are still southern, over 90% of blacks live in urban environments, with the majority in higher density central urban environments.

A question was recently presented to me, via the mind of a black conservative, concerning the debunking of the notion that problems of today’s blacks are linked to the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. The proposition was this: If racism is the origin of many black problems today, then why are many black problems, like crime and out of wedlock births, worse today than in the early 1900’s when racism was much worse a problem? It’s actually a very logical question for if there is a correlation and causation between black problems and white racism, then black problems should rise and fall with the level of white racism in the general society, right? Not exactly.

The flaw of this analysis and proposition is that it assumes all other things remain the same, when they don’t and did not. The reason why some conditions worsened for blacks, while overt white racism declined, is due to the fact that others things changed. One of the things that changed is that the nation, and particularly black America, became much more urban than it had been. The behavior and culture of blacks radically changed once they started moving from a rural personal existence to an impersonal and dense urban existence in ghettos. Moreover, the society as a whole was becoming more individualistic as it was transforming into the “Me” generation where individual expression ruled over traditional expectations. What was the impetus for this change? The push factor was to escape Southern oppression and poverty born from racism. So our migration was a reaction to the action of white racism, i.e. racism is correlation and causation.

It’s like a person who says that he or she steals bread because he or she is hungry then a critic disputes that rationalization by noting the time when the person was much hungrier, yet, did not steal to the same degree. However, the critic never thinks to consider that the opportunity to steal may have varied between the time when the person was much hungrier compared with now. Had there been the same opportunity to steal bread, as now, when the person was much hungrier, the person likely would have stolen more bread. Thus, the degree of hunger, like the degree of racism, is not the only factor in determining the resultant behavior. Rather, it’s the “push” factor relative to opportunity to succumb or give into the temptations created from the “push” factor successfully. Hence, the environment that black folks lived in, in 1920, did not offer the opportunities to behave in a manner that manifest in contemporary urban black communities.

If you talk with any black person over the age of 50, they can give you a chronology of the change. They will tell you about the era when they used to leave their doors unlocked at night. They will tell you about the era when everyone spoke to one and other when they passed in public. They will tell you about the era were children addressed adults with “sir” and “ma’am”. They will tell you about the era when the neighbor looked out for and could and would discipline another’s child who had transgressed from the expectations of normative behavior as defined by the community and culture. These were all the traditions and culture formed from a rural southern existence and they eroded as blacks became more urban and less rural, more impersonal and less personal, as a consequence of becoming more Northern and more urban.

One also must keep in mind that years of racial oppression left a deep psychological scare upon black people. The rural black existence, unlike the urban black existence, did not offer the triggers or opportunities for deviant behavior for a psychologically scared people. As a general rule, when people live in a low density area where everyone knows everyone and the people have all lived in the area for many years, people don’t transgress from expectations very often. People who wanted to transgress from traditions usually move to the “city” for that, where it’s more impersonal and they feel they can become anonymous. Hence, the “city” has always been the destination and incubator of vices and blacks migration to the city, looking to escape the racism and poverty of rural southern existence, exposed them to opportunities from many vices.

In light of this, the reason why black conditions, in some respects, are worse today, than when racism was much worse, is due to the fact that the glue of rural existence and traditions are no longer keeping us sane. Let us also not forget that white racism has never vacated the premises either, although the loss of legal foundation has greatly curtailed the ability to egregiously oppress blacks with impunity. When blacks moved into their new urban environments, whites moved away to a suburban existence and their jobs followed them, making the core urban environment that much more an incubator of vices and bad behavior for a psychological scared people due to a lack of opportunity. The psychological scaring manifest frustration, anger and hopelessness that resulted in misplaced aggression and irresponsible behavior inflicted upon the people closest to them, which were other black people.

So as our national society and culture slowly decays in pursuit of materialism and individualism, all to support commercialism that feeds capitalism hyper greed, the traditionally vulnerable will be disproportionately impacted. Humans are not a naturally dense living people, as opportunity and urbanization forces it upon us. It’s an incubator for all type of socially deviant behavior, as well as, providing income opportunities needed in the modern day and age for survival. Black people are likely the most urbanized group in America and we also receive the less opportunity from urbanization of any group. Thus, whe don’t enjoy the positive income opportunities born from Urban (because most of it is now suburban) living, to the same degree as others, while being exposed to the vices of downside of urban living.

Of course, the same ole people will see this analysis as fitting the pattern of excuse making, when it is not. Every action produces a reaction and that phenomenon is intellectually known as “cause and effect”. Every intellectual pursuit of knowledge and discovery must deal with the phenomenon of cause and effect. It’s only when people want to emotionalize a debate that the phenomenon of cause and effect is relabeled the blame game and excuse making. Every time an attempt is made to intellectually explain the black condition, emotional terms are superimposed over logical terms to obfuscate with the hope of discrediting the findings or conclusion.