Page:Chicago Race Riots (Sandburg, 1919).djvu/37

Rh the illiterate in their letters, saying, "All we want is a chanstchance [sic]," or, as one spells it, "Let me have a chanchchance [sic], please."

Hundreds of letters written to The Chicago Defender, the newspaper, and to the Urban league reflect the causes of the migration. Charles Johnston, an investigator for the Carnegie foundation, a lieutenant from overseas with the 803d infantry, believes the economic motive is foremost. He says:

"There are several ways of arriving at a conclusion regarding the economic forces behind the movement of the colored race northward. The factors might be determined by the amount of unemployment or the extent of poverty. These facts are important, but may or may not account for individual action.

"Except in a few localities of the south there was no actual misery or starvation. Nor is it evident that those who left would have perished from want had they remained. Large numbers of negroes have frequently moved around from state to state and even within the states of the south in search of more remunerative employment. The migrations to Arkansas and Oklahoma were expressions of the economic force.

"A striking feature of the northern migration was its individualism. Motives prompting the thousands of negroes were not always the same, not even in the case of close neighbors. The economic motive was foremost, a desire simply to improve their living standards when opportunity beckoned. A movement to the west or even about the south could have proceeded from the same cause.

"Some of the letters reveal a praiseworthy solicitude for their families on the part of the writers. Other