The case for a new Great Migration in the US | Charles M. Blow
Nov 27, 2023
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Join Charles M. Blow, a renowned writer and political commentator, as he boldly proposes a new Great Migration to tackle racial inequality in the U.S. He discusses the cyclical nature of social progress and how a strategic return of Black Americans to the South could enhance political power. Exploiting historical context, he emphasizes the potential for this migration to reshape policies and representation. Blow's provocative ideas challenge listeners to rethink traditional approaches to civil rights and inspire community-driven change.
The historical pattern of progress and backlash in the US regarding racial equality is tiring and detrimental to achieving true equality.
Encouraging black people to engage in reverse migration to the southern states can increase political power and influence state-level policies crucial to their communities, as seen in the success of recent reverse migration to Georgia.
Deep dives
The Cycle of Progress and Backlash
The podcast discusses the historical pattern of progress and backlash in the United States regarding racial equality. It highlights how movements for racial justice, such as Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement, were followed by periods of regression, such as the implementation of Jim Crow laws and mass incarceration. The podcast emphasizes that this cycle of progress and backlash is tiring and detrimental to achieving true equality.
The Proposal for Reverse Migration
The podcast introduces a provocative proposal for achieving racial equality by encouraging black people to engage in reverse migration. The speaker argues that if more black people return to the southern states, where they historically had a majority, they can increase their political power and influence state-level policies crucial to their communities, including criminal justice, electoral processes, and education. The speaker points to the success of the recent reverse migration to states like Georgia and how it played a role in flipping the state from red to blue in the 2020 election.
Advantages and Precedents of the Plan
The podcast identifies three key advantages of the proposed reverse migration plan. First, there is a historical precedent for the success of large-scale migration for political purposes, such as the transformation of Vermont through progressive migration in the 1970s. Second, while the reverse migration is already happening to some extent, it needs greater momentum to match the scale of the Great Migration. Lastly, the reverse migration is already yielding positive outcomes, as seen in Georgia's political shift and increased black population. The speaker argues that this plan is a proactive way to achieve freedom and political empowerment, rather than relying on pleading or prayer alone.
Social progress in the United States often seems to take two steps forward and one step back, with hard-fought civil rights wins countered by a seemingly inevitable backlash. In this spirited talk, writer Charles M. Blow makes the case that history, inverted, suggests a potential path forward. It's an unapologetically provocative proposal that Blow thinks just might spark a real shift toward equality in the US.