The Cruel Story Behind The "Reverse Freedom Rides"

March 9, 2020 10:11 AM

Southern segregationists resented the Freedom Riders who came by bus to protest Jim Crow laws. So in 1962, they tricked black Southerners into migrating north and transformed families' lives forever.
posted by Etrigan (8 comments total)

In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. The Warmth of Other Suns
posted by robbyrobs at 10:31 AM on March 9, 2020 [7 favorites]

From the OP:

Fuming over the civil rights movement, Southern segregationists had concocted a way to retaliate against Northern liberals. In 1962, they tricked about 200 African Americans from the South into moving north. The idea was simple: When large numbers of African Americans showed up on Northern doorsteps, Northerners would not be able to accommodate them. They would not want them, and their hypocrisy would be exposed.

Racist history repeats itself, or at least rhymes: White House proposed releasing immigrant detainees in sanctuary cities, targeting political foes (Washington Post, April 11, 2019)

Minorities used as pawns in political games to target liberal opponents.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:25 PM on March 9, 2020 [13 favorites]

But I mean, isn't it kinda true that white northerners were hypocritical in regards to race? Maybe hypocrisy is the wrong word. . . but definitely its not as if northern white liberals were welcoming blacks with open arms and foot rubs. I mean redlining and bussing riots should be proof enough of that. There are no clean white hands.
posted by flamk at 3:53 PM on March 9, 2020 [4 favorites]

Yeah I don't think they were factually incorrect about how white northerners would react--just evil. The history of municipal politics in America bears that out.
posted by bracems at 4:33 PM on March 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

Your comment is absolutely correct, flamk, but it's important to point out that anyone making that the claim of "No clean white hands" at the time was falling for the Southerner's bad faith distraction tactics, ie their bullshitting. In the context of a campaign to expose and end Jim Crow, whether northerners were flawlessly nonracist is a counterproductive discussion to have.

Obviously it is not a counterproductive discussion in general--the article does a good job of showing the racism and other problems the families faced up north. And we can and should discuss northern racism etc. (I'm not saying you yourself are falling for those tactics--we are no longer in that historical context.) I just want to point out how pernicious these distraction tactics can be.

Jesus didn't say, 'take the speck out of your own eye before judging your brother for the plank in his,' he said the opposite. Both obstructions are a problem, one is a priority. Scarce resources should be allocated appropriately.
posted by ropeladder at 5:17 PM on March 9, 2020 [13 favorites]

White folks. Is there any situation we can't make worse?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:41 PM on March 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

I didn't think my opinion of humanity could fall any lower.

This was, by the way, a tactic the Nazis themselves used: “You purport to be concerned for the Jews, but you won't let them into your countries!” Obviously the Nazis weren't making that criticism in good faith, but it was in fact totally justified. The correct thing to do would have been to fight Hitler and rescue his victims, just as the correct thing to do would have been to fight Southern racists and engage in a new Reconstruction. But even if we're hypocrites, we'd be worse if we didn't fight Nazis and other racists; and if we're too cowardly to take the next step then at least we can lay the groundwork for those who come after us.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:57 AM on March 10, 2020 [4 favorites]

The Warmth of Other Suns

Wilkerson spends a fair amount of TWoOS detailing many of the ways that the white power structure in the American South during Jim Crow actively kept Black people from migrating, because they didn't "just" hate Black people, they needed them as a permanent underclass, source of cheap labor, and a way to keep other white people from realizing how shitty they had it.

This wasn't part of the Great Migration. This was yet another attempt by reactionary racists to weaponize the tactics of the other side, and like most such attempts, it was half-hearted, transparent, and stupid.
posted by Etrigan at 11:50 AM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]