Among the most important factors contributing to the reversal of
emigration from the South were the political and social changes
that culminated in a number of Supreme Court decisions and
federal actions in the 1950s and 1960s. Although African
Americans would continue to face discrimination, violence, and
other obstacles, actions taken by the federal government to
formally dismantle Jim Crow generated change in many southern
communities and sparked hope for a brighter future for the
region. Formal and informal segregation, discrimination in
employment and housing, denial of civil rights, and outright
violence faced by African Americans in southern communities
provided a major impetus to leave the region during the first
half of the twentieth century. It was not merely custom, but
also state and municipal laws that systematically excluded
blacks from workplaces, public spaces, voting booths, and
schools. And it is the political awareness and activism among
southerners that brought about immense political and