美国国家公共电台 NPR--How the migration of Southern whites in the 20th century shaped America's landscape

How the migration¹ of Southern whites in the 20th century shaped America's landscape

Transcript²

NPR's Michel Martin speaks to researcher Samuel Bazzi about the lasting³ cultural and political impact of the northward⁴ movement of white Southerners in the early 20th century.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

In the early part of the 20th century, the Great Migration saw millions of African Americans leave the South for urban areas in the North. Now a new study sheds light on another great migration. Between 1900 and 1940, about 5 million white Southerners also left the region, and the study shows how the political and cultural influence of this migration continues to be felt today. My colleague Michel Martin spoke⁵ to Samuel Bazzi, one of the authors of the study. He's also an associate professor at the University of California, San Diego. Bazzi started out talking about where these migrants landed.

SAMUEL BAZZI: They really did settle all over the United States. And while they did go to places in, say, the Northeast and kind of the economic heartland, at least in the early part of the 20th century, they went there in, at least in relative numbers, much less than they did to places out in the Western United States. One important fact that really distinguishes the Southern white diaspora from the Southern Black diaspora in many ways is that the white diaspora really could be found across the density⁶ divide. They settled in very rural places, in small towns, in big towns and big cities, whereas the Black diaspora was really concentrated in some of the biggest cities, the most dense⁷ places in urban America.

MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE⁸: So that's fascinating. One of the things that I think is most striking and one of the things that's gotten a lot of attention is that you set forth⁹ the theory that this white Southern diaspora has had a really profound effect on the country's politics. Tell us why.

BAZZI: The first kind of important fact really stems from the point that I just highlighted, which is that they were really geographically¹⁰ diffuse¹¹. And so why is that important in the American electoral system? Well, our electoral college really overrepresents low-density places, low-population states relative to higher-population places and states.

MARTIN: Well, just to clarify for folks, so South Dakota has the same two senators as California. So there's that. What else?

BAZZI: That's right. So that's really key. And then in the other is the fact that these migrants, in many ways, really did bring new or at least intensified¹² forms of religious conservatism to new parts of the country. They brought evangelical Protestantism from the American South and brought that with them to many places across America. And evangelical Christianity becomes much more politically engaged as a voting bloc¹³ and really mobilized in the 1970s. That's certainly one really important feature. And then the other is racial conservatism. And so if you look at survey data from the 1950s, 1960s, you can see that the Southern white diaspora looks much more similar, in terms of their racial attitudes, to the white populations living in the South as compared to those living in the rest of the country.

MARTIN: Do you think that the influence of this group was mainly that they settled in places that weren't as populous¹⁴, so they kind of had an outsized impact? Or do you think they influenced their neighbors?

BAZZI: So I think we certainly find evidence of that outsized impact in these places that are less populous. But the other thing that we find is that, indeed, there does seem to be a very kind of localized intergroup contact. You may be going to the same church every Sunday. Your children may be going to the same schools. So I think there are kind of a lot of really localized neighborhood-based channels through which these migrants could be influencing their neighbors.

One thing that we do see quite clearly in the data is that - just to give you a concrete example, take a non-Southern white individual. If they are moving to a community where there happens to be a large Southern white migrant population, what we actually are able to see is that when you're exposed to that Southern white diaspora among your very local neighbors, you begin to give your children more religious names and tend to send a strong signal to others of your religiosity.

MARTIN: So let me be clear, again, that your report is based on statistical¹⁵ data. Can you tell us why you're so convinced that you can draw conclusions about the influence of this migration in the early 20th century on election results decades later?

BAZZI: The first is that we're, indeed, focused on that early wave of mass migration of whites out of the South in the early 1900s. And we're detecting a kind of impact on politics and a rightward shift in the communities to which they're migrating as early as the 1960s. And, of course, the 1960s were this kind of critical juncture¹⁶ in American politics as conservatives really realigned behind the Republican Party. And we saw the kind of mass exodus¹⁷ of Southern white voters from the Democratic Party. We also see that they begin to lose voters from the Southern white diaspora outside the South, in the communities in which that diaspora had begun to build deep roots in the middle of the 20th century. And then, of course, as partisan¹⁸ politics have really calcified¹⁹ in America, we've really seen the imprint²⁰ of that diaspora persisting all the way through to the last, say, five or six presidential elections.

MARTIN: Before we let you go, where do you want to take this research next?

BAZZI: What we're doing is really digging deeply into the immediate²¹ post-Civil War era and basically looking at the migration of white individuals out of the former Confederate states and tracking those migrants who grew up living in an economy that was governed by slavery. They really played an important role in diffusing²² Confederate culture, Confederate nostalgia²³ outside of the American South and helped grow and mobilize white supremacy²⁴ in new forms in many places outside of the American South.

MARTIN: So why you might see a Confederate flag in places you don't expect.

BAZZI: Precisely²⁵.

MARTIN: Samuel Bazzi is the researcher and writer on the paper we've been talking about. It's titled "The Other Great Migration: Southern Whites And The New Right." Thanks so much for talking with us and sharing this really, really interesting research with us.

BAZZI: Thanks very much for having me, Michel.

(SOUNDBITE OF BRAD MEHLDAU'S "HIGHWAY RIDER")

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 northward   

adv.向北；n.北方的地区

参考例句：

• He pointed his boat northward.他将船驶向北方。
• I would have a chance to head northward quickly.我就很快有机会去北方了。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

7 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 geographically   

adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句
• All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分

11 diffuse   

v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的

参考例句：

• Direct light is better for reading than diffuse light.直射光比漫射光更有利于阅读。
• His talk was so diffuse that I missed his point.他的谈话漫无边际，我抓不住他的要点。

12 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

14 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

15 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

16 juncture   

n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头

参考例句：

• The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
• It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

17 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

18 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

19 calcified   

v.（使）钙化，（使）硬化( calcify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The rock calcified over the centuries. 经过几个世纪，石头发生了钙化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By age 10, 50% of patients have calcified cortical tubers. 10岁的时候，50%的病人出现钙化结节。 来自互联网

20 imprint   

n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记

参考例句：

• That dictionary is published under the Longman imprint.那本词典以朗曼公司的名义出版。
• Her speech left its imprint on me.她的演讲给我留下了深刻印象。

21 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

22 diffusing   

（使光）模糊，漫射，漫散( diffuse的现在分词 )； （使）扩散； （使）弥漫； （使）传播

参考例句：

• Compounding this confusion is a diffusing definition of journalist. 新闻和娱乐的掺和扩散了“记者”定义。
• Diffusing phenomena also so, after mix cannot spontaneous separating. 扩散现象也如此，混合之后不能自发的分开。

23 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

24 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

25 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。