The “Dream of Black Metropolis” in the Early Twentieth-Century United States: Racial Segregation, Regional Location, and Black Population Size

Abstract

The present study uses Census data on occupations to examine the opportunity structures of Black Metropolises in the early twentieth century. The Black Metropolises with the highest odds of blacks’ employment in medicine, retailing, and social work were those with the highest black-white segregation levels, implying that a racially segregated Black Metropolis promoted blacks’ employment in occupations serving black clientele. In addition, the odds of blacks’ employment in many occupations were approximately equal in northern and southern Black Metropolises, casting doubt on the argument that the North was the more favorable region. Finally, when New York (Harlem) and Chicago (Bronzeville) are omitted, the odds of blacks’ employment in most occupations are unrelated to black population size, indicating that, outside the two largest Black Metropolises, additional numbers of blacks were of little consequence for the pursuit of the Dream of Black Metropolis.