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Niyaz Uddin
Dr. Hudson
Honors 1000 The City
12 October 2016
A Futile Journey North
Jacob Hughes was a young, ambitious, and God-fearing man. He found solace in stories.
He had heard the stories of how his ancestors had been stolen from their land and forced to work
as slaves. He had heard the stories of his peers who had become caught up in sharecropping and
faced violence in the South. It was through stories that he learned to read and it was through
stories that he found hope. The writings of W.E.B. Du Bois and other black authors who wrote of
their struggle gave him a reason to dream for a better life. Jacob Hughes considered himself to be
intelligent and he yearned to stand out. He refused to let his fate be decided by others and he
refused to be subjugated. He believed he could escape the extreme racism and prejudice of the
South by escaping northward. He heard stories and rumors of other black folk who had gone
north and found success, particularly in Detroit where there was a budding auto industry. (1)
Unfortunately, stories do not always reflect reality. Jacob Hughes embarked on a journey north
towards Detroit to make something of himself, but instead was faced with new forms of
prejudice, societal and institutional barriers, and monotonous, laborious work with conditions
reminiscent of slavery.
Malcolm X once said, Long as you south of the Canadian border, youre south, and this
was a hard truth for Jacob Hughes to swallow. After the Civil War, he thought, the north would
be much more receptive to black folk as they had fought to keep the union together and abolish
slavery. The racism in the north was actually just more subtle, and at times even overt. When

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Jacob Hughes arrived in Detroit, he could already feel an atmosphere of tension. First of all, the
Northerners disliked southern migrants, black or white, who were coming North and taking
scarce jobs and housing. (1) There was also a difference in culture, and southerners were viewed
as lower class. (1) Second, Jacob Hughes had to face other European immigrants who came with
their own animosity towards black people. Finally, native born northerners simply disliked black
folk. When Hughes first came to Detroit, he realized very quickly that white people wanted
nothing to do with black people. Consequently, segregation was apparent in schools, theaters,
restaurants, and stores. (1) This prevented black folk from being part of the growing consumer
culture for some time. Jacob Hughes was surprised at the lack of opportunity for African
Americans in the so-called land of opportunity.
All the innate biases in northern society and especially in Detroit led to institutional
barriers that prevented Jacob Hughes from achieving success. One of the first things a migrant
would do when coming to the North was find a place of residence. (1) Often people followed
chain migration and would move to where friends and family were. (4) Jacob Hughes considered
himself lucky to have a friend who had moved to Detroit a few years prior and had already
situated himself. (1) The same friend had returned south once to be with family after his fathers
death. It was then that he had filled Hughes mind with grand ideas of Detroit. When Hughes
arrived, however, he was met with a situation that was anything but grand. Perhaps when his
friend came it was better since he came early around 1910 when there were few black people
living in Detroit. (1)The growth in the black population in Detroit had grown exponentially since
then. Black folk were relegated to poor housing ghettos. Even though they comprised almost 7%
of the population, they were squeezed into 1% of the housing. (4) Jacob Hughes friend lived
along with another family that was very hospitable and welcoming to Hughes. As soon as he was

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settled in, Hughes went out to seek for work. Again, he was faced with various hurdles. The job
prospects for a black man from the South were very limited despite Hughes intellect, literacy,
and passion. He was turned away often and looked down upon by white employers. Eventually,
his friend was able to use his connections to get Hughes a job at a foundry. (5) Hughes
considered it a temporary job until he could find a respectable career. Unfortunately for him and
many others in his situation, that time never came.
The Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th amendment turned out to be just words on
paper for Hughes and other black folk. Work conditions were abysmal and employees were at the
mercy of their bosses. (2) When Hughes began work at the foundry, he was not able to notice
right away because everyone was covered in grime and soot, but all the workers were black
except for a few Polish people who knew very little English. (5) The work was hard and
strenuous. Because they were paid by how many parts they made, they often had to work
nonstop and for long hours. (2) They were not paid for lunch or even when machines broke due
to no fault of their own. (5) Hughes was excited for the end of the week when he would get his
paycheck, but his employers kept it as part of something they called abeyance. (5) This
exploitation of black workers was common. The health of the workers quickly deteriorated. (5)
Few lasted longer than a few months at the foundry. (5) The workers were essentially
expendable. Soon after being let go from the foundry, Hughes heard about the five dollar work
day at Ford. (3) He learned that this too was too good to be true. Many workers hated working on
the assembly line. Several would quit as soon as they were trained. Also, in order to be eligible
for the $5 one would have to follow stringent rules and regulations that dictated how one would
live outside of work. (3) One would have to maintain a certain appearance, keep their house tidy,

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avoid alcohol, and many other rules. (3) These rules were especially hard on black folk living in
ghettos. (4) Hughes could not find better work elsewhere and worked at Ford until his retirement.
With each nail Hughes put into a car, he felt he put another nail into his coffin. He had
moved to the north to escape monotony and exploitation. He ended up just becoming another
proletariat selling his body for labor. He meant nothing to most and even to himself at times. He
did not achieve his dreams. While Hughes was disappointed with his life, many other black folk
considered themselves lucky in the same circumstances and were content with life. They had
little hope and did not know a world outside of subjugation. Throngs of black folk fled to the
north to seek a new life, but many were met with the same one they had been trying to escape.

Works Cited
1.

Tolnay, Stewart E. "The African American "Great Migration" and Beyond." Annual Review of Sociology 29

(2003):
209-32. ProQuest. Web. 13 Oct. 2016.
2.
10. Jul 20

WANGLEE, W. "PROFIT-SHARING PLAN LIKENED TO SLAVERY." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922):

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1920. ProQuest. Web. 13 Oct. 2016 .
3.

Ford Motor Company. Helpful Hints And Advice to Employees to Help Them Grasp the
Opportunities Which Are Presented to Them by the Ford Profit-sharing Plan. Detroit, Mich.,

1915.
4. Black America. Housing, Detroit Negro Quarter. Digital image. In Motion. Black America,
1929.
Web. 13 Oct. 2016.
5. Denby, Charles. "Chapter 2: North to Detroit." Indignant Heart, a Black Worker's Journal.
Boston: South End, 1978. N. pag. Print.