BLACK EXODUS AND WHITE MIGRATION, 1950 TO 1970: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF POPULATION MOVEMENTS AND THEIR RELATIONS TO LABOR AND RACE RELATIONS

This study critically reviews and partially reassesses the sociological theories of migration, labor relations, and race relations. The specific concerns of this study are: (1) internal migration of White and Black Americans in the United States between 1950 and 1970 and (2) the relationship of this migration to labor relations and race relations. Black and White population movements are compared. Two major hypotheses are presented and tested in an effort to determine the cause(s) of migration, and two major perspectives, classical functionalism and neo-Marxism, are analytically reviewed. The study is in the nature of a sociological investigation operating within the classical conceptual parameters of Durkheim, Tonnies, Weber, and Marx. Research methods used are: (1) critical review and comparative analysis of historical and sociological literature; (2) trend analysis of census data using descriptive statistics of Black and White migration; and (3) examination of the influence of variables such as income, education, and race on migration. This examination of migration from the historically polarized perspectives of functionalist and neo-Marxist thought finds gaps and flaws in both views of migration and suggests the need of new theoretical frameworks and the inclusion of new sources of data in order to produce new insights. For example, much of the traditionally accepted literature on migration, race relations and labor relations in sociology has not acknowledged the findings of Afro-American scholars until very recently. Conceding that while the causes of migration are ultimately economic, the study finds that social and political factors may take precedence, especially for non-dominant groups such as Blacks. Whites migrated from Mississippi to Chicago between 1950-1970 largely for economic reasons; Blacks did so primarily for social and political reasons, as an escape from repression and violence. The study develops and explores the concept of "Exodus," derived in part from the Old Testament and compatible with classical sociological thought, in an effort to provide a useful addition to the theory and knowledge of internal migration, particularly of Black populations.