pact on the political level. Thus the only thing left to do was to migrate out of the South and from farm to city. The great migration caused a dramatic shift in African-American culture. It was at this point that urbanization occurred. The general migration trend was southern rural to southern urban to northern urban. This mass urban migration led to overcrowding and serious health problems in the northern cities. Blacks paid excessive rents in the North and segregation, despite Civil Rights laws, was still very much a part of blacks and their way of life. And remember this was less than 100 years ago. The urban migration did create a demand for black services and institutions denied throughout the white society. There was the development of black hospitals and social service organization. There was also an explosion of black cultural experience in theatres, music, and literature. This newfound culture of African-Americans technically was called "black metropolis," with all kinds of hope and prosperity. Black education expanded tremendously. The black illiteracy rate was cut almost in half and the number of college graduates more than doubled. There was definitely a New Hope for Black America.The Great Depression caused a tremendous decline in cultural activity and employment. Racial violence flourished as many people competed for scarce jobs. However, the newfound black cultural awareness of the 1920's continued throughout the depression and World War II. After WWII, blacks found themselves in a much stronger position than before the war. Blacks came out of WWII in a much stronger position and progress continued during the postwar period. Nonwhite income rose from 41percent in 1939 to 54 percent in 1947. The number of blacks employed by the federal government alone increased from 50,000 in 1933 to 200,000 in 1946. This was no accomplishment considering that in 1930 the average southern black youth had a school 2...
