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Nicholas Lemann

The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America Paperback – March 31, 1992

by Nicholas Lemann (Author)

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A New York Times bestseller, the groundbreaking authoritative history of the migration of African-Americans from the rural South to the urban North. A definitive book on American history, The Promised Land is also essential reading for educators and policymakers at both national and local levels.

Print length

408 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Vintage
Publication date

March 31, 1992
Dimensions

5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0679733477
ISBN-13

978-0679733478
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From 1940 to 1970, some five million blacks migrated to the urban North. In a vivid document that spent 10 weeks on PW 's bestseller list and was a BOMC, History Book Club and QPB alternate, Lemann collects personal accounts and refutes the belief that all federal programs to aid the black poor failed.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A compelling and powerful book that should be read by anyone interested in the continuing history of racial oppression and conflict in the United States. Lemann successfully interweaves personal narratives of African-American migrants and their families with the discouraging story of politics and public policy in Chicago and Washington."-- David Brion Davis, Yale University
"A fascinating and deeply moving book, a masterpiece of social anthropology. Lemann's account of the political history of the War on Poverty ranks with the very best contemporary history."--David Herbert Donald, Harvard University

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; 1st Vintage Books ed edition (March 31, 1992)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 408 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679733477
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679733478
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #470,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #382 in U.S. Immigrant History
- #943 in Black & African American History (Books)
- #2,541 in Discrimination & Racism

Customer Reviews:
119 ratings

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Michele Zack

Excellent and Illuminating Read

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2018

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This is a very well-written book, easy to read and fascinating. It combines case histories with a fascinating historical overview of the migration of rural blacks from the Deep South to the industrialized North, how it came about, what led to it, and what happened 70 years on.

Particularly interesting to me was the section on Washington, what was happening politically at the same time as the migration was going on. For most of that time I was a young adult and was aware of some of the machinations, but ignorant of others and without a holistic view. It was exciting to see my aunt, Elizabeth Wickenden quoted at some length. I knew she was an expert on Social Security -- having worked in the office at its inception -- but was tickled to see her prophetic quotes on an unrelated subject.

A well known journalist (I've read him in the New Yorker among other places) Nicholas Lehman writes remarkably lucid, easy-to-read prose, not without humor,, backed by what must have been absolutely massive research. Great book. I wouldn't have found it without someone in my non-fiction book group's suggestion, for which I am deeply grateful.

8 people found this helpful

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George Fulmore

Great insights in this important book

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2010

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I read this book in conjunction with reading "the southern diasposa." If one were to only buy/read only one of these books, I would definitely recommend the latter; however, I'll go on to review the former, which is worth the read, as well.

"The Promised Land" starts out with its best. The first chapter is about Clarksdale, Mississippi, and how Blacks and whites interacted there in the first decades of the 20th century. The whites lived on one side of the tracks, the Blacks on the other. Blacks could not vote, and there was no guarantee their children would have an education. Blacks lived in plantation cabins with roofs that leaked and without electricity or insulation. The shareholder system was in place, as was segregation. The landholders needed Blacks to pick cotton and work the fields; the Blacks had nowhere else to go and no other way to make a living. In 1900, 90% of American Blacks lived in The South.

A really good cotton picker could make $4 per day, but in Chicago in the 40's, one could make 75 cents per hour. Plus, one could work overtime, and rent a place relatively cheap. It was a way out; it was an opportunity. The author introduces us to several cottonpickers and laborers in Clarksdale who decide that they have had enough. They move to Chicago to seek the promised land and opportunities. One is Ruby Hopkins.

The book then tells us about the Black experience in Chicago in the 40's, via Ruby and others, and it introduces us to the world of Mayor Daily. But, abruptly, in a new chapter, the book moves us to Washington, D.C., where we get excruciating details about the politics of Washington in the 60's and 70's and how it addressed Black poverty and inequality. It's as if another book has begun. There is juicy information about President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and President Johnson...and Sargent Shriver, the war on poverty, the Office of Economic Opportunity and more. But I yearned to get back to the actual Black experience. And just like that, the book turns back to Chicago in the 60's.

The theme now is about how the Blacks from Clarksdale have coped in the 20 years in Chicago, who they have married, the kids they've had, the jobs, the welfare, the housing, etc. Some have made it, some have not. There are property lines that Blacks are not to cross, but as their population grows, the lines must be crossed. New schools and new housing are built. It is still a better experience than Clarksdale could have been. But there is much more crime. Folks get hooked on cocaine. Public housing deteriorates. In short, there can be a price to pay, if one cannot move beyond the Black ghetto.

Back in Clarksdale, the shareholder system is essentially over, as mechanical cotton pickers have taken over the need for most manual labor, and insecticides have been introduced to take care of weeds. Blacks still cannot vote, defacto segregation is still in place, and life still can be very hard for Blacks. Up North, if one has found a career in meat-packing, steel, manufacturing, hotel services or such, one had done well and has probably moved out of the ghetto. Ruby is still there. So, she makes the decision to move back to Clarksdale.

In her mid-70's now, Ruby is back to where she started. Several of her children and their children are there as well. She is better off than she has ever been. But it's still The South, and it is far from perfect. It is what it is.

So, that's the gist of the book, with tons of details skipped. Again, I much prefer the book, "the southern dispora" on this general topic, because I think it provides much more general information and has a better flow. But "The Promised Land" is still a fascinating read, for the most part.

15 people found this helpful

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A. Torma

Nicholas Lemann story telling style opened up the great history of this great movement within the US

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2017

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Nicholas Lemann story telling style opened up the great history of this great movement within the US. This migration within the US needs to be included in the history books of our schools. Like all large immigration this movement of people has changed northern US and opened up the possibility of marginalized people to be included in everyday benefits. We are a free people but sometimes we need to have peaceful confrontation of the establishment. The migration of the poor share croppers, both black and white, has caused much change. Now we need to analyze the effects of this movement of the 21st century US.

4 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A good companion for Hillbilly Elegy by VD Vance

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2017

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A good companion for Hillbilly Elegy by VD Vance. It is much harder to read, because it is so full of details, facts, names and places, but the migration out of the Delta South to Chicago bears remarkable resemblance to the migration from the Appalachian South to the Mid-west rust belt. The hope, courage, hard work of two very different peoples match, as do the disappointment, loss of cultural bearing, and slide back into resentful, hopeless poverty. I recommend reading this first, then the Hillbilly Elegy.

7 people found this helpful

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Alex

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2020

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Excellent book for anyone looking to understand the problems of minorities, African Americans especially, in the supposedly Liberal northern states.

One person found this helpful

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R. Cornelious

My maternal grandparents were part of the Great Migration, but my father's parents were considered " ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2018

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I read this book many years ago when it first came out. It also had a documentary along with it. I actually saw the documentary first, that's what made me buy the book at the Chicago Historical Society. My maternal grandparents were part of the Great Migration, but my father's parents were considered " Old Settlers." My Fraternal great-grandparents were part of the migration that happened before 1920.

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2020

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Good conte t but the print is so small and smoother together it makes it difficult to read a lot in one sitting. And this is coming from a 20 something year old

One person found this helpful

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art lover

One of the best books I have ever read

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2016

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I have to rate this as one of the best nonfiction books I have read. Mr. Lemann tells a complex story so well, weaving together different eras and places. I came away with a much richer understanding of the way events of the past motivated individuals to make decisions that added up to present day conditions. Read the book to learn how the mechanization of agriculture led to the despicable conditions in the cities of the Southern diaspora, including Chicago, Detroit and Baltimore. When there's no paying work, people leave for opportunities elsewhere. When their education and income are limited, they may find their outcomes diminished as well. Mr. Lemann fleshes out these weak generalizations with acutely drawn portraits of individuals, their offspring and their experiences.

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Esined

The print is so very small

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 16, 2021

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I have wanted to read this book since the BBC had a series of this many moons ago .But, the print is so small i cant read it unless i have a magnifier.

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