Amazon’s latest original, Them, just premiered this past Friday (April 9), but it’s already making an impact. Most of what makes Them such a terrifying show are its otherworldly manifestations of American racism; but a disturbing amount of that same horror is rooted in fact. So while Them is not a true story, or even based on a book or other pre-existing source material, there are moments that skirt reality, making the series all the more horrifying.
The first season of the horror anthology Them follows the Emory family as they move from North Carolina, to an openly hostile and malicious neighborhood in Los Angeles. In fact, more that 5 million Black Americans made this move from 1940 to 1970. Known as the Second Great Migration, the movement described Black families moving from the South to the Northeast, Midwest, and West. Unlike the first Great Migration, these Black workers weren’t rural farmers. They were largely urban laborers who moved from cities in the South to cities all across the country like Los Angeles, Oakland, Phoenix, and Seattle.
This move aligned with the rise of the defense industry around World War II. Because of this growing industry, as well as the effects of the draft, smaller cities started to grow and offer more highly-skilled and well-paid jobs. Workers who were limited by segregation in the South saw these jobs as an opportunity for better lives.
Though these cities weren’t segregated, they were often still deeply racist and manipulative. A sort of unofficial segregation was imposed on these migrants. Some city planners knew that Black Americans coming to their cities would be in a financially difficult position. They exploited that vulnerability, creating low-income housing in the parts of town city planners wanted these Black families to live, thereby creating a segregated community.
Then there was blockbusting. Blockbusting is the scheme Them outlines, and that dictates the Emorys’ move. White property owners scared of this migration would sell their homes to real estate companies. This sale was often manipulated by sales tactics on the agency’s side to ensure they were sold below value. Agents would then turn around and sell these houses in predominantly white neighborhoods to Black families looking to escape overcrowded urban areas. The cycle would then repeat itself. Once the Black family moved in, their white neighbors would sell their homes to the waiting real estate companies, often for less than they were worth. This reaction has long been dubbed “white flight.” The real estate companies would then turn back around and sell these vacant houses to other Black families at a significant markup. Even though none of these moves were as overt as segregation, all were designed to disenfranchise and harm the Black community.
There’s yet another gut-wrenching historical event Them references. Much like Henry (Ashley Thomas), Black soldiers were subjected to chemical experiments during World War II. A once-secret military program tested mustard gas and other chemical weapons on American troops. Though the U.S. military has never admitted to choosing its subjects based on race, NPR tracked down some of the subjects of these disturbing experiments. During the investigation they found that Black, Japanese-American, and Puerto Rican soldiers were singled out for these cruel experiments.
So no, the Emorys weren’t real. But the dehumanizing and sinister abuse they suffered at the hands of their white neighbors and a society working against them was very much real for a countless number of Black Americans in the 1950s. And of course, racism remains a rampant problem today. That’s what makes Them truly chilling — not that it’s based on a true story, but how at least some of it isn’t that far from the truth.
Watch Them on Prime Video