--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The suburbanization and the ghettos that…" description: "\"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 today..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/791/isabel-wilkerson-10765_african-american_the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that_1992366.jpg" --- # The suburbanization and the ghettos that were created as a… ![“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 today.] And ... the South was forced to change, in part because they were losing such a large part of their workforce through the Great Migration.” quote by Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/791/isabel-wilkerson-10765_african-american_the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that_1992366.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/791/isabel-wilkerson-10765_african-american_the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that_1992366.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/791/isabel-wilkerson-10765_african-american_the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that_1992366.jpg) > “The suburbanization and the ghettos that were created as a result of the limits of where \[African-Americans\] could live in the North \[still exist today.\] And ... the South was forced to change, in part because they were losing such a large part of their workforce through the Great Migration.” [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. Historical segregation patterns persist, shaping modern urban demographics and labor markets. **In simple terms:** Past housing limits still affect today. Key Takeaway Address systemic inequities. Themes history urban studies race migration Mood analytical concerned Type sociological historical When to use this quote - policy planning - community development - education - housing reform Key Concepts structural racism economic impact Questions to Reflect On - How can cities reverse historic segregation? - What role does migration play in current economies? A Different Perspective Solutions require deep structural change, not just policy tweaks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [African american](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/african-american/) [Ghetto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghetto/) [Great Migration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-migration/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Migration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/migration/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Workforce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/workforce/) ## Related quotes > [“The story played out in virtually every northern city—migrants sealed off in overcrowded colonies that would become the foundation for ghettos that would persist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/the-story-played-out-in-virtually-every-northern-city-migrants-sealed/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“...the Northern Rockies region is a rapidly changing part of the United States. Ironically, in many areas today's number-one threat is not clear-cutting, overgrazing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mccoy/the-northern-rockies-region-is-a-rapidly-changing-part-of-the-united/) Michael McCoy > [All urbanization, pushed beyond a certain point, automatically becomes suburbanization… Every great city is just a collection of suburbs. Its inhabitantsdo not live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/all-urbanization-pushed-beyond-a-certain-point-automatically-becomes/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Everything that makes the world like it is now will be gone. We'll have new rules and new ways of living. Maybe there'll be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/everything-that-makes-the-world-like-it-is-now-will-be-gone-we-ll/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [The dinner party is a suburban form of entertainment. Its spread in our big cities represents an insidious Fifth Column suburbanization of the metropolis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lopate/the-dinner-party-is-a-suburban-form-of-entertainment-its-spread-in/) [Phillip Lopate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lopate/) > [In his study of Atlanta over the last 60 years, Kevin Kruse convincingly describes the critical connections between race, Sun Belt suburbanization, the rise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-carter/in-his-study-of-atlanta-over-the-last-60-years-kevin-kruse/) Dan Carter > [Sometimes you're forced into change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan-mcnabb/sometimes-you-re-forced-into-change/) [Donovan McNabb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan-mcnabb/) > [There are two ways to change things: Either you are forced to change or you have the intuition to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/there-are-two-ways-to-change-things-either-you-are-forced-to-change/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [But in the free market system, you're forced to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-romer/but-in-the-free-market-system-you-re-forced-to-change/) [Roy Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-romer/) > [Change before you're forced to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-goodell/change-before-you-re-forced-to-change/) [Roger Goodell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-goodell/) > [If you are not forced to change, then there are no reasons to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-van-basten/if-you-are-not-forced-to-change-then-there-are-no-reasons-to-change/) [Marco van Basten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-van-basten/) > [I think one of the major themes in 'Escape Fire,' really, if you break it down, is that huge institutions, the military, the Safeway…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-heineman/i-think-one-of-the-major-themes-in-escape-fire-really-if-you-break-it/) [Matthew Heineman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-heineman/) > [I want to be an Actress that is forced to change in order to play certain characters or tell stories. I don't want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandip-gill/i-want-to-be-an-actress-that-is-forced-to-change-in-order-to-play/) [Mandip Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandip-gill/) > [Covid-19 is an invisible enemy that has forced us all to change our behaviour, professionally, personally and socially.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-hoyle/covid-19-is-an-invisible-enemy-that-has-forced-us-all-to-change-our/) [Lindsay Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsay-hoyle/) > [The more the climate is forced to change, the more likely it is to hit some unforeseen threshold that can trigger quite fast, surprising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-alley/the-more-the-climate-is-forced-to-change-the-more-likely-it-is-to-hit/) Richard Alley ## 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 African american quotes > [This is, for an accomplished Latino, an accomplished African American, an accomplished anyone who disproves stereotypes, it's a constant battle in your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-sotomayor/this-is-for-an-accomplished-latino-an-accomplished-african-american/) [Sonia Sotomayor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-sotomayor/) > [I grew up in Synagogue in the boys' choir. We didn't listen to music in the house; only at temple. Then I went to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-patinkin/i-grew-up-in-synagogue-in-the-boys-choir-we-didn-t-listen-to-music-in/) [Mandy Patinkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-patinkin/) > [I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-agreed-a-long-time-ago-i-would-not-live-at-any-cost-if-i-am-moved/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [“This popularity extended to Trump himself, who, according to private demographic research conducted at the time, was even more popular with African American and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-green/this-popularity-extended-to-trump-himself-who-according-to-private/) [Joshua Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-green/) > [American civil rights leader, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Lynching is a murder. For the past four hundred years our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/american-civil-rights-leader-where-do-we-go-from-here-chaos-or/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [I know I'm more forgiving than most African Americans when it comes to second chances for White people who not only commit a racial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-capehart/i-know-i-m-more-forgiving-than-most-african-americans-when-it-comes/) [Jonathan Capehart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-capehart/) > [Some Republicans gave up on winning the African-American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I am here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-mehlman/some-republicans-gave-up-on-winning-the-african-american-vote-looking/) [Ken Mehlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-mehlman/) > [It's unfortunate that a lot of people think African-American female artists are monolithically R&B this-or-that, don't have to do anything by default.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/it-s-unfortunate-that-a-lot-of-people-think-african-american-female/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Whereas our ancestors (not of choice) were the first successful cultivators of the wilds of America, we their descendants feel ourselves entitled to participate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-allen/whereas-our-ancestors-not-of-choice-were-the-first-successful/) [Richard Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-allen/) > [It may be changing, but still it's the one place, that total control of an institution, that African Americans have. So sometimes, you know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-emerson/it-may-be-changing-but-still-it-s-the-one-place-that-total-control-of/) [Michael Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-emerson/) > [Most of the more celebrated names among African-American authors, poets, and artists are known to the world because of their association with specific cultural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aberjhani/most-of-the-more-celebrated-names-among-african-american-authors/) [Aberjhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aberjhani/) > [I think it's easier for African American and white comics to be praised than it is Latinos because they think our culture or our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lopez/i-think-it-s-easier-for-african-american-and-white-comics-to-be/) [George Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lopez/) > [“Alabama in 1927 alone, 27,701 men were arrested on misdemeanor charges and offered for sale by county sheriffs. 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And show them that we can get it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-hardrict/i-m-just-trying-to-touch-the-world-and-touch-the-people-and-just-get/) [Cory Hardrict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-hardrict/) [Browse all 1,848 African american quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/african-american/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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 today.] And ... the South was forced to change, in part because they were losing such a large part of their workforce through the Great Migration.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Isabel Wilkerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that-were-created-as-a-result-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "African american" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that-were-created-as-a-result-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/791/isabel-wilkerson-10765_african-american_the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that_1992366.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/791/isabel-wilkerson-10765_african-american_the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that_1992366.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/791/isabel-wilkerson-10765_african-american_the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that_1992366.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The suburbanization and the ghettos that were created as a result of the limits of where [African-Americans]…” — 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": "The suburbanization and the ghettos that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that-were-created-as-a-result-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/the-suburbanization-and-the-ghettos-that-were-created-as-a-result-of/#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 } } ] } ```