Routing Black Migration to the Urban US South: Social Class and Sources of Social Capital in the Destination Selection Process

Abstract

This article examines sources of migrant social capital (i.e. social networks and institutional assistance) that facilitated destination selection among African American migrants to a US southern metropolitan area—Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte is an emerging magnet city in the net in-migration of blacks to the US South since the 1970s. While research on black migration to the South suggests that family ties assist migrants in selecting destinations, scholars speculate that family ties are less important for migrants of high socio-economic status, who are born outside the South or who move to urban areas. Using qualitative narrative interviews with non-southern-born black migrants to Charlotte, this study identifies other sources of assistance that route blacks to their destination—employers, educational institutions (especially historically black colleges) and the ethnic media. Working-class migrants relied primarily on family and friends when selecting their destination, but middle-class migrants relied on a broader range of sources. Implications for theory about how class shapes the destination selection process are discussed.