Economic Impact

"America’s black middle class has become larger and more influential, especially in places like Atlanta, King's home town. America’s black middle class is now “the wealthiest, best-educated community of black people in the world.”
-  Juan Williams, Fox News contributor and Washington media veteran, January 21, 2013
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The Great Reverse Migration painting by Daniel Marsula

The enfranchisement of voters in the United States has created a bigger middle class and the "region as a whole has become wealthier" (Lublin).
"The New Great Migration back to the South... was instrumental in encouraging African Americans back. It didn’t hurt that there was job growth, educational opportunities in HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), lower cost of living and political engagement brought African Americans back to the New South."
- Email Interview, Shirley Franklin, Mayor of Atlanta, March 18, 2013
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Source: Brooking Institution, The New Great Migration: Black Americans' Return to the South 1965-2000


"When everyone started getting the right to vote, we started working together,..we have had an economic boom in the South..mainly because of good politics"
- Live interview, Ambassador Andrew Young, Civil Rights Leader, LBJ Library, Austin, January 31, 2013