1,000,000 be- tween 1950 and 1959; the displaced workers (mostly black) migrated to "high-unemployment ghettoes" in Northern cities rather than face con- tinuing poverty at home. The departure of these workers caused the aver-age Southern wage to rise still higher.
The major reason for the Southern economy's shift, Wright concludes, was that a new breed of Southern politicians refused to continue insularity. State officials now encouraged outside investment, through tax breaks, industrial...