When one was able to buy a piece of
property, regardless of how prosperous or orderly he might
appear, local whites viewed it as an invasion, panicked, and
moved out in droves. This left the banks, still unwilling to sell
to Negroes, holding a large number of deserted properties.
Eventually, they were compelled to sell these properties at
deflated prices. During and immediately after the First World
War, Negroes poured into Harlem, obtained high-paying jobs, and
purchased their own real estate. Johnson believed that Harlem
Negroes owned at least sixty million dollars worth of property,
and this, he believed,would prevent the neighborhood from
"degenerating into a slum."
However, the great migration from the rural South had only just
begun. As thousands upon thousands more poured into Chicago,
Detroit, Milwaukee, Newark, Boston, Harlem, and other Northern
centers, housing became increasingly scarce. Harlem, like the other
Negro communities of the North, became more and more crowded.
At the same time, jobs became harder to obtain. Poor "country
cousins" streamed into "the promised land" to share in the "milk and
honey," but, unfortunately, there was not enough to go around.
Pages:
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303