The Northern states had
abolished slavery early in the century, and the abolitionists
self-righteously condemned Southern slaveholders while remaining
unaware of their own racism. However, the twentieth century
showed that racism was really a national issue. Thousands of
Afro-Americans moved from the rural South into the urban North,
creating a more even distribution of that population throughout
the country. At the same time, there was a fresh wave of
voluntary immigration into America by peoples with an African
heritage. Most of these newcomers also moved into Northern
cities. As thousands of blacks spread into the North and West,
the inhabitants there developed sympathies with Southern racists.
Actually, this population shift only unearthed attitudes which
had been there all the time. This gigantic migration of peoples
was symptomatic of the change in the heart of the black
community. It signaled a new dynamism and a new aggressiveness.
The voluntary black immigration which occurred during the
twentieth century was a new and unusual phenomenon. Almost all
blacks who had previously come to America had been brought in
chains.
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