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Witness History: The Back to Africa Movement

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The Back to Africa Movement

23/02/2016 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, The Back to Africa Movement

In the late 1800s thousands of African-Americans tried to emigrate to escape violence

In the late 1800s thousands of African-Americans tried to emigrate to Liberia to escape political and racial violence at home.

At the end of the 19th Century, African-Americans in the southern states of the US faced a wave of political and racial violence. Lynchings reached a peak. Black people were prevented from voting and subject to laws which enforced racial segregation. 

In response, thousands sought to leave the US and travel to Liberia. More emigrants left from Arkansas than any other southern state. 

We hear from Professor Kenneth Barnes of the University of Central Arkansas. He uncovered a fascinating series of letters that reveal why so many black Arkansans dreamed of Liberia and what happened to them when they got there.  

(Photo: Departure of African American emigrants for Liberia; from The Illustrated American, 21 March 1896. Credit: The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1890 - 1899)

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