Blacks Head South for a New El Dorado: A Study of Micro and Macro Level Factors in Southern Locational Attainment, 1970-2000

D Augustus Anderson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This paper examines the relationship between Black mobility and locational attainment and contributes to the locational attainment and migration literature. This paper also makes use of the restricted-use data from the Census Bureau in focusing specifically on Black movers (compared to White movers), and the subsequent role of mobility in achieving locational attainment. Preliminary analysis indicates that while White movers achieve greater locational attainment than Blacks ones, Blacks achieve locational returns under different mobility circumstances. Blacks who move within a Southern metropolitan area have higher locational returns than those who do not move. Black reverse migrants have higher locational returns than Black return migrants. And Blacks who move from the Inner South (eastern Southern states) to the South Atlantic (coastal states) have higher locational returns than the opposing movement. Yet, additional exploration will include the independent effects of socioeconomic status compared to type of move on locational attainment.