The Diversity of Migrations 93 



and those which are gaining in Negro population. The suc- 

 ceeding chapter shows concretely how important a part the 

 tenant system plays in determining the population increase 

 of rural areas. 



city and country. 

 The urbanization of the Negro population has attracted 

 much attention, especially since large groups have recently 

 moved into northern cities. As the census makes no closer 

 classification of the birthplace of persons than the State of 

 birth, movement into cities cannot be obtained from this 

 source. Increases and decreases of population, however, if 

 marked, constitute a good measure of the movement. The 

 following figures indicate the distinct drift cityward of both 

 the white and the colored people of Georgia : 



TABLE 13. 

 Georgia: Rural and Urban Population^ 1 ) 



These figures indicate the increasing importance of city 

 life among Negroes. While still proportionately a small 

 problem, the urban problem is a growing one. The Negro 

 urban population increased from 14.4 per cent in 1890 to 

 19.1 per cent in 1910. The greater part of this increase — 

 from 15.5 to 19.1— was in the single decade 1900 to 1910. 

 The rural Negroes, however, still constitute over four-fifths 

 of the total population. While almost as large a proportion 

 of the white population is living in rural districts, the white 

 people too show a marked drift cityward. This tendency is 



1 United States Census of 1910, Population, Vol. II, p. 37. 



