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Title: African Americans Return to the South: Identifying Demographic and Non-Demographic Push and Pull Factors
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2002
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Abstract: By the end of the 20th century, a century-long demographic trend had been reversed: African Americans were staying in &/or returning to the South in record numbers. Indeed, by the year 2000, the net migration patterns of African Americans showed a return migration to the South from all non-South regions of the country. In this study, we explore the effects of selected push & pull factors associated with this phenomenon. Wilson (1997) & Anderson (1990) have discussed factors associated with inner-city deindustrialization & subsequent population changes, including the disproportionate exodus of upwardly mobile, middle-class blacks from the inner city. Building on this imagery, Hunt & Hunt (2001) speculate that a new & larger population dynamic may be occurring, involving the departure of higher status African Americans (especially the younger & more affluent) from non-Southern urban areas, toward expanding opportunities in the economy of the "New South." Frey (2001) makes a similar argument, emphasizing that the South's race relations climate may have changed sufficiently to have become more welcoming for African Americans. Additionally, Falk (2001) has emphasized the "power of place" & the role it may play in the migration process, a pattern akin to Stack's (1993) "call to home" - both views underscoring the role of family & kinship networks as well as local cultural norms & shared social histories. Using census based micro-samples in IPUMS for 1970, 1980, & 1990, as well as General Social Survey data for 1972-2000, we examine the role of sociodemographic, religious, & ideological factors shaping African American's "return migration" to the South. We contend that considering these factors collectively moves us beyond purely demographic considerations, & toward a more complete understanding of the processes underlying African Americans' return to the South.
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Authors: Hunt, Larry L.; Hunt, Matthew O.; Falk, William W.
Conference Name: Sothern Sociological Society
Publisher Location: Baltimore, MD
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Migration and Immigration, Race and Ethnicity
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