Reverse Migration

The years 1995–2000 completed the long-term reversal of black Americans' historic out-migration from the South, reports a new survey of census data by William Frey. By the late 1990s, all three of the other regions were on balance losing black migrants to the South, according to a newly released Brookings Institution report, "Blacks Now Returning to South from All Other Regions". This full-scale reversal of blacks' "Great Migration" north during the early part of the 20th century reflects the South's economic growth and modernization, its improved race relations, and the longstanding cultural and kinship ties it holds for black families. This new pattern has augmented a sizeable and growing black middle class in the South's major metropolitan areas.

Thanks to Chris Steins