Since 1915 the American negro is less a tiller of
the soil and has entered into a wider range of economic activities. Miss Louise Venable Kennedy has examined the causes and effects of this change in The Negro Peasant Turns Citywards (Columbia University Press, 17s.), an admirably documented treatise of considerable importance. During the War the negroes were entreated to go North in order to escape their life of bondage in the South, because the industrial North had need of their labour. Having answered this appeal, the negro finds his way barred, not only by his lack of experience, but by prejudice and the refusal of trade unions to admit him, and by a colour discrimination which affects both his social and economic life. On the other side the reaction of the whites has been dictated largely by emotional considerations, particularly by fear based upon insufficient knowledge. Though legally entitled to all the rights and privileges of other citizens, negroes are generally barred by some circumvention of the law from participating in public benefits. Prejudice and antipathy are increasing as a result of the growth of the negro population.
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