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The dramatic exodus of African Americans from countryside to city and from South to North during World War I and the decade that followed changed forever black America's economic, political, social, and cultural lives. The Great Migration was, up to that point, the largest voluntary internal movement of black people ever seen.
Somewhat ironically, the Great Migration's sequel during and following World War II has not been given its own title by scholars. It is, in fact, often considered to be merely a continuation of the earlier movement, following a momentary pause during the Depression. In many ways, however, this second huge exodus from the South deserves a separate identity; it was larger, more sustained, different in character and direction, and precipitated an even more radical and lasting transformation in American life than its better-known predecessor.
By the end of World War II, the character of the black population had shifted: the majority was urban. In 1970, at the end of the second Great Migration, African Americans were a more urbanized population than whites: more than 80 percent lived in cities, as compared to 70 percent for the general population of the United States; and 53 percent remained in the South, while 40 percent lived in the Northeast and North Central states and 7 percent in the West.
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