Ohio in Black and White

In the middle of the twentieth century there was an influx of Southerners to Ohio. They had heard that it was a better life up in Ohio. Many of them had new hopes for their lives in Ohio. They settled in the Columbus and Toledo areas and the Akron and Cleveland areas. Unlike the German and Hungarian immigrants, the blacks were able to travel back and forth to the south to see their families. This was made possible because of trains and cars. The blacks had to compete for their jobs in Ohio. Most white people segregated the blacks from their activities and buildings. While there were not nearly as many lynchings in Ohio as there was in the south, Ohio still had at least six black men lynched. The Smith Law was passed in 1896, which allowed survivors or relatives of victims of mob violence to sue the county for five hundred to a thousand dollars for victims and up to five thousand dollars for their kin (Cayton 272). In the beginning of the twentieth century, many blacks lived in urban neighborhoods. They had low standards of living, and could only find manual labor. The black children didn’t receive the same education as white children. Education for blacks was much more inferior. Blacks were often denied entrance into public places. Not only did the blacks face racial prejudice, but also class prejudice. Middle- class blacks did not approve of the lower-class blacks that were immigrating in. Northern blacks thought that southern blacks were different from them. They had grown up in rural areas and were not real concerned with self-discipline, social respectability, and moral improvement. They had their own music, clothes, language, and customs.

Blacks were not the only people discriminated against in Ohio. White Southern migrants from Appalachia were also discriminated against. They were called “hillbillies” or “briarhoppers”. They had a hard time finding jobs like the blacks because they were unskilled. Many Ohioans saw the white Appalachians as a threat to their self-image. Appalachians were more likely to be less educated, poorer, and in trouble with the law than the average Ohioan (Cayton 293). Although many middle-class Ohioans looked down on the white Appalachians, the whites didn’t know their way of life. Family was one of the most important aspects of Appalachian life. They did return home quite often to see their families. The improved roads made the trip less expensive and relatively easy. The close connections that the Appalachians had allowed them to maintain a way of life that really mattered to them. Not all the Appalachians preferred their southern life to Ohio life. There was much more to learn once you got up to Ohio. One woman had a shock when she moved here. She went from country living to a more urban life. Appalachians were culturally different not culturally inferior.

Hillbilly and country music grew more popular in that later part of the twentieth century.

This was an interesting chapter because of the explanation of the diversity of people. I didn’t know too much about the Appalachians. It was an informative chapter.

Cayton, Andrew. “Ohio: A History of a People.” The Ohio State University, 2002