Were the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance the Gateway from Research Paper

Were the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance the Gateway from Oppression for African Americans to Become Business Owners - Research Paper Example The study will look into African American businesses from the earliest periods of post-emancipation through to the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, the Second World War, the Civil Rights Movement and the current day. The contention is to see how business ownership improved the socio-economic status of African Americans and how these historical events allowed African Americans to own and operate businesses. African American businesses in the United States are older than most people would suppose. The earliest African American owned and operated businesses date back to the post-emancipation period from the rural and racially oppressive South. The presence of a large African American population coupled with racial segregation meant that African Americans were confined to using shops from their community alone. The prominent African American thinker W. E. Du Bois aptly observed: â€Å"It is the density of the Negro population in the main that gives the Negro businessman his best chance.† Given the constant oppression of the rural South, the African America population began to move in large numbers to the industrialized North that presented better economic opportunities as well as greater racial freedoms. The early twentieth century saw a large African American exodus from the racially polarized South. The first of these series of movements, labeled the Great Migration, forced some 1.6 million African Americans into the North. The influx of African American immigrants saw slow business growth since most ended up joining the industries in the north as blue collar workers. Racial segregation continued in the North though not as harshly leading to the development of some African American businesses. It was not until the Harlem Renaissance that distinctly recognizable African American businesses began to appear in the urban landscape.