The Warmth Of Other Suns

I know I just posted a long list of books, but this particular piece of non-fiction was one that I wanted to highlight.



While I only gave it 4 stars (Very good!) it is one I'd highly recommend. If you enjoy history from the perspective of those who've experienced it, this is the book for you.



The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story Of America's Great Migration
by Isabel Wilkerson



Almost 6 million people fled the South for northern cities in the span of 55 years, from 1915-1970.



While I was generally familiar with the racist policies of the South, it was all the more poignant to hear it in the personal stories of three individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, George Starling, and Robert Foster. They all had different reasons for leaving, but their experiences shared many similarities. Ida Mae and her husband were sharecroppers, barely surviving--they left in the 30's. George Starling stirred up trouble by trying to unionize in the citrus groves--he left in the 40's. And Robert Foster dreamed of putting his education to use in the medical field--he left in the 50's.



There was little available to them in the Jim Crow South, where segregation and hatred made it not only difficult to make a living, but to live safely. Although the North did provide significantly more freedom than the South, it was not perfect. What was most heartbreaking was how much prejudice the migrants continued to face, even in the North where Jim Crow did not legally exist. In the South, a person of color knew where to sit on the bus or train, what establishments they were allowed to enter, etc.--it was clearly posted. In the North, there were no signs, but that did not mean places were any less segregated. A person of color had to forge ahead in order to find out. Sometimes that meant humiliation and rejection, but the potential for something worse was great.



One section that especially stuck with me was the difficulties the migrants had finding housing in the northern cities and the extreme lengths the whites took to ensure their neighborhoods remained white. Real estate codes that kept blacks confined to a very small section of the city, the overcrowding in the tenements to the point that as soon as you left your bed, there was someone waiting to occupy it, arson, bricks thrown through windows, fiery crosses on the lawn of a property a black family had purchased even before they could move in. It greatly disturbed and saddened me. To think this happened only 50 years ago!



She also highlights the perilous journeys of those most determined to escape. People nailed into coffins and ferried from one hearse to another. Others shipped themselves in tiny freight boxes that required a fetal position for up to 2 days, sometimes right side up. Some drove for days on end, beyond exhaustion, without being able to find someone willing to rent them a room, even as far away as Arizona!



It's a hefty book! The epilogue starts on page 526. But oh so worthwhile!



I thought history was dry in high school. I've been proven wrong time and time again since then. This book is a prime example of that!