Alfred H. Stone Collection
Volume: 4B

52. A. S. Van de Graaff, “The Unaided Solution of the Southern Race Problem,” Forum (May 1896): 330-45.

Article that anticipates by twenty years the first Great Migration of black Southerners to Northern states. Using data from the 1890 census, the author asserts that “the race problem arises out of the unequal distribution of the negro race in the United States.” His solution is to spread African Americans around. He also believes that the decision of European immigrants to settle in Northern states is because they want to avoid contact with African Americans. Reducing the number of African Americans in the South would, according to the author, induce European immigrants to come south.