People are friendlier here, Larry Carey Sr. said. They speak to you right out of the clear blue sky. That went out of style up North a long time ago. Writers African-Americans are moving back to the South, reversing a 20th century trend of blacks heading north to cities that offered both better jobs and an escape from generations of overt bigotry and oppression that followed the end of slavery. The black migration is occurring in the heart of the former Confederacy, with the African-American population growing twice as fast in the South as in the rest of the country, a Newsday analysis of Census 2000 data from across the nation shows.
Economic opportunities are again a key factor steering the movement of blacks, experts say.
But strong family ties, growing political clout, temperate climate and changing attitudes about the region have convinced many blacks that the South now offers them a better quality of life. The now-integrated community was once a key headquarters for the Ku Klux Klan. As a black American, you can live very well down here. It seems like everybody that's here is able to have a nice home and a little property, said Wade, who still works for the Postal Service but is now in public relations. Kenneth Prewitt, former director of the U.S. Census Bureau, agreed with the observation that blacks are moving back to the South in large numbers.