--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Great Migration. It would become perhaps…" description: "\"“Great Migration. It would become perhaps the biggest underreported story of the twentieth century. It was vast. It was leaderless. It crept along so m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/isabel-wilkerson-10765_quote_great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps_1403164.jpg" --- # Great Migration. It would become perhaps the biggest… ![“Great Migration. It would become perhaps the biggest underreported story of the twentieth century. It was vast. It was leaderless. It crept along so many thousands of currents over so long a stretch of time as to be difficult for the press truly to capture while it was under way. Over the course…” quote by Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/isabel-wilkerson-10765_quote_great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps_1403164.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/isabel-wilkerson-10765_quote_great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps_1403164.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/isabel-wilkerson-10765_quote_great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps_1403164.jpg) > ““Great Migration. It would become perhaps the biggest underreported story of the twentieth century. It was vast. It was leaderless. It crept along so many thousands of currents over so long a stretch of time as to be difficult for the press truly to capture while it was under way. Over the course of six decades, some six million black southerners left the land of their forefathers and fanned out across the country for an uncertain existence in nearly every other corner of America.”” [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Great Migration was a massive, underreported movement of Black Americans reshaping the nation over decades. **In simple terms:** Millions moved north and west, changing America. Key Takeaway Recognize overlooked historical migrations. Themes history migration race urbanization Mood thoughtful informative Type historical analytical When to use this quote - education - media coverage - policy analysis - community heritage Key Concepts sociology demographic shift American history Questions to Reflect On - What factors drove individuals to leave? - How did this migration reshape cultural landscapes? A Different Perspective Focusing only on numbers can miss personal stories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Great Migration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-migration/) [Migration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/migration/) [Migration Biggest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/migration-biggest-4922911/) [Southerners Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/southerners-left-4922912/) [Underreported Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underreported-story-4922910/) ## Related quotes > [Well, I'm a daughter of the great migration as, really, the majority of African Americans that you meet in the north and west are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/well-i-m-a-daughter-of-the-great-migration-as-really-the-majority-of/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [My parents absolutely did not think of themselves as part of the Great Migration. They knew they were part of a great wave. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/my-parents-absolutely-did-not-think-of-themselves-as-part-of-the/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [What I love about the stories of the Great Migration is that this is not ancient history; this is living history. Most people of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/what-i-love-about-the-stories-of-the-great-migration-is-that-this-is/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [ The suburbanization and the ghettos that were created as a result of the limits of where \[African-Americans\] could live in the North \[still exist… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that-were-created-as-a-result-of/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [There are certain things that we take for granted that simply would not have existed without the great migration. Motown, for example, would not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/there-are-certain-things-that-we-take-for-granted-that-simply-would/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [ \[The Great Migration\] had such an effect on almost every aspect of our lives - from the music that we listen to to the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/the-great-migration-had-such-an-effect-on-almost-every-aspect-of-our/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [At the beginning of the 20th century, before the migration began, 90 percent of all African-Americans were living in the South. By the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/at-the-beginning-of-the-20th-century-before-the-migration-began-90/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [And in some ways, to me, that's one of the inspiring and powerful things about the Great Migration itself. There was no leader, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/and-in-some-ways-to-me-that-s-one-of-the-inspiring-and-powerful/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [Immigration is a kind of pilgrimage. That's the way I see it. Just to go back to the desert, biblical metaphors, that's the story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-martinez/immigration-is-a-kind-of-pilgrimage-that-s-the-way-i-see-it-just-to/) [Ruben Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-martinez/) > [The Great Migration can get forgotten if we don't pay attention or bear witness to it. It's part of my personal history and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/the-great-migration-can-get-forgotten-if-we-don-t-pay-attention-or/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [What will make the 'Bitter Root' film unique is that it is a Black-owned, Black-created storyline steeped in the history of the Harlem Renaissance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-johnson/what-will-make-the-bitter-root-film-unique-is-that-it-is-a-black/) [Jason Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-johnson/) > [“Some historians, in fact, suggest Hartford recruiters may have pioneered strategies that spurred the great migration of Southern rural blacks to Northern cities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-eaton/some-historians-in-fact-suggest-hartford-recruiters-may-have/) [Susan Eaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-eaton/) > [The Great Migration changed American history not just for the migrants but for all of us. It made possible American cultural milestones like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barr/the-great-migration-changed-american-history-not-just-for-the/) [William Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barr/) > [“All told, perhaps the most significant measure of the Great Migration was the act of leaving itself, regardless of the individual outcome. Despite the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vintage/all-told-perhaps-the-most-significant-measure-of-the-great-migration/) [Vintage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vintage/) > [Californians tend to be outspoken. When the great migration began, the more timid people must have stayed home, and the bolder ones headed west.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shana-alexander/californians-tend-to-be-outspoken-when-the-great-migration-began-the/) [Shana Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shana-alexander/) ## More by Isabel Wilkerson > [“That one over this is the one for the use of the white people,” Judge Amistead Jones said. “Not that I am a stickler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/that-one-over-this-is-the-one-for-the-use-of-the-white-people-judge/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“...they speak like melted butter and their children speak like footsteps on pavement...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/they-speak-like-melted-butter-and-their-children-speak-like-footsteps/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [Many immigrants do not talk about what they endured back home. They were fleeing that world, and when they left they didn't want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/many-immigrants-do-not-talk-about-what-they-endured-back-home-they/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“Many of the people who left the South never exactly sat their children down to tell them these things, tell them what happened and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/many-of-the-people-who-left-the-south-never-exactly-sat-their/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“Fifteen thousand men, women, and children gathered to watch eighteen-year-old Jesse Washington as he was burned alive in Waco, Texas, in May 1916. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/fifteen-thousand-men-women-and-children-gathered-to-watch-eighteen/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [It occurred to me that no matter where I lived, geography could not save me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/it-occurred-to-me-that-no-matter-where-i-lived-geography-could-not/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [Well, I'm a daughter of the great migration as, really, the majority of African Americans that you meet in the north and west are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/well-i-m-a-daughter-of-the-great-migration-as-really-the-majority-of/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [There were colored and white waiting rooms everywhere, from doctor's offices to the bus stations, as people may already know. But there were actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/there-were-colored-and-white-waiting-rooms-everywhere-from-doctor-s/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“I don’t see one white person in this block selling drugs. They got the nerve to be mad at the blue-eyed devil. You don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/i-don-t-see-one-white-person-in-this-block-selling-drugs-they-got-the/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“That the Negro American has survived at all is extraordinary —a lesser people might simply have died out, as indeed others have. — DANIEL…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/that-the-negro-american-has-survived-at-all-is-extraordinary-a-lesser/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“The reality was that Jim Crow filtered through the economy, north and south, and pressed down on poor and working-class people of all races.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/the-reality-was-that-jim-crow-filtered-through-the-economy-north-and/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [I mean my mother migrated from Georgia -Rome, Georgia, to Washington, D.C., where she then met my father, who was a Tuskegee Airman who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/i-mean-my-mother-migrated-from-georgia-rome-georgia-to-washington-d-c/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [You must leave this world a better place than it would have been if you had not existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/you-must-leave-this-world-a-better-place-than-it-would-have-been-if/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“County supervisors relented only after losing their case in the U.S. Supreme Court, choosing finally to reopen the schools rather than face imprisonment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/county-supervisors-relented-only-after-losing-their-case-in-the-u-s/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [My parents sent me to a school across town, an integrated school, where I had the chance to meet and grow up with people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/my-parents-sent-me-to-a-school-across-town-an-integrated-school-where/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) [Explore all 63 Isabel Wilkerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) ## More Migration quotes > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [We need to fight to prove to people that it is possible to form an E.U. migration policy that is in line with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-orban/we-need-to-fight-to-prove-to-people-that-it-is-possible-to-form-an-e/) [Viktor Orban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-orban/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I believe that many lives around us now can reflect this strange pattern of migration and movement. The question is: are we aware of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-dawes/i-believe-that-many-lives-around-us-now-can-reflect-this-strange/) [Kwame Dawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-dawes/) > [If our goal is to slow migration, then the best way to do so is to work for a more equitable global system. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aviva-chomsky/if-our-goal-is-to-slow-migration-then-the-best-way-to-do-so-is-to/) [Aviva Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aviva-chomsky/) > [Migration is a feature of globalisation. You can’t stop it; so every time a political party says it is going to be tough on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hodge/migration-is-a-feature-of-globalisation-you-can-t-stop-it-so-every/) [Margaret Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hodge/) > [“You must regard this deviation from your plan as part of the adventure that you sought when you decided to embark on it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-yamey/you-must-regard-this-deviation-from-your-plan-as-part-of-the/) [Adam Yamey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-yamey/) > [“South of Larissa the landscape began to change. Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [The first Black Migration to this country was forced migration. It was the Middle Passage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barr/the-first-black-migration-to-this-country-was-forced-migration-it-was/) [William Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barr/) > [I am not against migration. It is simply pragmatic to restrict migration, while at the same time encouraging integration and fighting discrimination. I support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayaan-hirsi-ali/i-am-not-against-migration-it-is-simply-pragmatic-to-restrict/) [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayaan-hirsi-ali/) > [Migration powers economic growth, reduces inequalities, and connects diverse societies. Yet it is also a source of political tensions and human tragedies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-guterres/migration-powers-economic-growth-reduces-inequalities-and-connects/) [Antonio Guterres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-guterres/) > [We are in the middle of a tough, ideological conflict that is being waged across the entire continent. On the one side are those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/we-are-in-the-middle-of-a-tough-ideological-conflict-that-is-being/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [The aim is to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-may/the-aim-is-to-create-here-in-britain-a-really-hostile-environment-for/) [Theresa May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theresa-may/) > [Electronic aids, particularly domestic computers, will helpthe inner migration, the opting out of reality. Reality is no longer going to be the stuff out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/electronic-aids-particularly-domestic-computers-will-helpthe-inner/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [I think those who say that you can't tango if you are not Argentine are mistaken. Tango was an immigrant music... so it does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-gavito/i-think-those-who-say-that-you-can-t-tango-if-you-are-not-argentine/) [Carlos Gavito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-gavito/) [Browse all 291 Migration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/migration/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Great Migration. It would become perhaps the biggest underreported story of the twentieth century. It was vast. It was leaderless. It crept along so many thousands of currents over so long a stretch of time as to be difficult for the press truly to capture while it was under way. Over the course of six decades, some six million black southerners left the land of their forefathers and fanned out across the country for an uncertain existence in nearly every other corner of America.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Isabel Wilkerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps-the-biggest-underreported/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Migration" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps-the-biggest-underreported/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/isabel-wilkerson-10765_quote_great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps_1403164.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/isabel-wilkerson-10765_quote_great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps_1403164.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/isabel-wilkerson-10765_quote_great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps_1403164.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Great Migration. It would become perhaps the biggest underreported story of the twentieth century. It was…” — Isabel Wilkerson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Isabel Wilkerson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Great Migration. It would become perhaps...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps-the-biggest-underreported/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/great-migration-it-would-become-perhaps-the-biggest-underreported/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```