-
Product demmand opens jobs and aids "The Great Migration"
The "Great Migration" increased dramatically in the years between about 1910 and the early 1920s. Between 300,000 and 1,000,000 African-Americans moved north during this period, largely in response to factory job openings as northern manufacturers boosted production for World War I. Black migration between 1916 and the 1960s remained strong. More than 6 million southern blacks made the move to the North during this period. -
The Founding of the United Negro Improvement Association
Due to new found ecnomic opportunites and the dynamic atmosphere of the "Roaring Twenties", racial pride blossomed in northern black communities. In reaction to this Marcus Gravey founded UNIA to promote the resettlement of blacks in Africa. In the United States, the UNIA also sponsored stores and other businesses to keep blacks' dollars in black pockets. -
Advancements in Physcology Increase Racial Tension
One of the lasting legacies of early psychology was the invention of I. Q. testing. Many psychologists believed that they could discover just how smart people were and rank their intelligence level on a comparative scale. Early psychologists relied on I. Q. tests to assert that blacks were, on average, less intelligent than whites. George O. Ferguson, in The Psychology of the Negro, claimed that the average I. Q. of a white American was 100, while the average score of an African-American was jus -
The Cotton Mill
The many advances in technology served as a catalyst to the riseof Textile mills in the United States as an economic powerhouse. The job opportunities textile mills opened up and the abundance of cotton in the South caused a boom in Cotton Mills in this region. The South still served home to many African Americans and as a result many occupied these "unskilled" jobs. -
Steelworkers Strike
More than 250,000 steelworkers walked off their jobs in an attempt to force their employers to recognize their right to organize and bargain together. The steel companiesrefused to negotiate with union representatives. As a result, the companies brought in 30,000 African Americans to keep the mills in business. Blacks now migrated to the North in search of war-industry employment. This caused an increase in racial tensions, as whites now saw blacks as a threat to their job security. -
Increased Racism
The idea of evolution began to be a popular belief and area of study among scientists. Some scientist began to take this theory as far as claiming evolutionary "proof" that showed the first life forms on the planet were the simplest and least developed. T. T. Waterman, a prominent ethnologist of the day, stated that Negroes were by far the most primitive race on Earth; so primitive, in fact, that they faced danger of extinction due to their inability to adapt to modern society.
