My Family Migration
My family history includes that of slaves, sharecroppers, and blue collar workers which is a measurement of success and progression. My family has journeyed from Africa to France to Louisiana and now California. The stories I know intimately of migration are those of my grandparents from Louisiana to sunny California, where living a better life, not being in constant fear, and obtaining a higher education was a key goal. My grandparent’s families were both sharecroppers of French heritage. They longed for a better life and did not feel that it was in the south. My grandfather lived with the fear that one wrong move could be his death as a black man in Louisiana. Throughout the process of my grandparent's migration, they met with many challenges but none as significant as trying to escape the limitations they had to live with in the South; economic dependency and racial injustices.
From an economical standpoint, moving to California was the best thing for my grandparents. While fighting in World War II, my grandfather heard from fellow soldiers that California was a great area with many opportunities for African Americans like himself and my grandmother. It was believed jobs would be provided for them to earn a better wage than they would Louisiana. In the South, such as Louisiana, there were many restrictions on which jobs were available for African-Americans as well as how much money they earned, especially those with little to no education (Osborne& Shuey). My grandparents were forced to work several jobs throughout the day to make ends meet for their family. Upon moving to California, my grandfather was able to find work on an assembly line for an aerospace company. I can understand the mindset of my grandparents at this point and although the cost of living was less expensive in Louisiana, the opportunities for financial independency was significantly less. I understood so much more about this in reading, “Dead Above Ground” and “Lita” by Jervey Tervalon (Tervalon). Based on a first hand source, the author’s mother, and different select economists and historians, he chronicles the opportunities and non-opportunities for the “colored” in both New Orleans and Los Angeles throughout each book.
Putting my grandparents story into a historical context, they in fact, were a part of history. My grandparents migrated out of the South to the West during the 1950’s, therefore, they were a part of the Second Great Migration. According to historical facts, poverty, the lack of educational facilities for children, segregation, discrimination, and limited opportunities were all factors into why many left the South and went to live in cities throughout the country. Between 1930 and 1950 most of the Southern population left (Unknown. AAME). The main reason was due to new cropping inventions. Many African-Americans worked as sharecroppers, planters, and farmers, furthermore, when tractors and mechanized cotton pickers were invented, they replaced those planters, farmers, and sharecroppers, resulting in many black, jobless, southerners (Unknown. AAME). For many Southerners, being that they were now jobless or working a job that didn’t pay as much, rather enough to keep a stable household, it was time to explore new places where their economic needs would be met. In my grandparents case, that new place was California. They worked exceptionally hard and achieved. They now live a comfortable life.
Economics and history had a big impact on people involved in the Second Great Migration. The economic and historical factors that my grandparents had to endeavor in the 1950’s while living in Louisiana was the reason they moved to the West, more specifically, Los Angeles. The economic impact was significant, in that, my grandparents did not think that they would have economic flexibility to grow and achieve the American dream. This was during a period where very few people of color owned property, were able to work outside of “the fields”, and were definitely at the mercy of the “white man” to prosper. The historical aspect had much dependency on the whims of the “white man”, which had my grandfather in constant fear for his safety and those loved ones around him. My grandfather was a very smart and opinionated man who loved a lively debate. He was definitely, historically at a disadvantage.
As he moved West, with my grandmother, economics and history become one with one another. He was treated with more respect and a more level playing field, when it came to intellect. Thus, leading to better economic opportunities. If my grandparents have stayed in the South I am positive that they would not be as well off as the currently are. They would have had to endure even more disrespect and hardships trying to achieve a better life for themselves than if they did not move to California.
My grandparents always believed in and stressed creating better opportunities for oneself if you were not pleased with the way things were going. In their case, they believed that moving to Los Angeles would open many doors to new opportunities and ultimately provide them with the ability to take care of and support themselves and their future family. Being able to pack up and leave their family behind in Louisiana unveiled their strength and character. My grandparents and parents stressed to my brother and me at a young age to always put ourselves in better situations even if it carried challenges and hardships and challenge ourselves toward a goal. Mediocrity has never been an option for me. I have listened to my grandparents stories my entire life. I understand their struggles and sacrifices. They have taught me perseverance so that my opportunities are limitless. My “footprint” can be as large as I dare to fulfill!
