What is White Flight?

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The phenomenon of upper and middle class whites moving out of cities and into the suburbs is known as white flight. The opposite of white flight is gentrification, a process in which wealthy whites move back into an urban area, displacing the current residents and rapidly driving up the cost of living so that the previous residents are forced to move. Both practices have been extensively documented by students of demographics and urban development. White flight, in particular, has negative connotations, especially for those left behind in the suddenly impoverished neighborhood.

This phenomenon began on a large scale after the Second World War, when African-Americans began to try to establish homes in America's cities. Many of these men and women were starting to enter the middle class themselves, with good jobs, education, and community values. In many cases, however, racism led whites to attempt to force blacks out. When this proved unsuccessful, the white population moved to the suburbs, establishing new and primarily racially homogeneous communities. This practice was termed "white flight," and resulted in class and racial segregation in many American cities.


Several practices, including redlining and restrictive covenants, keep neighborhoods racially segregated. Redlining refers to the practice of denying goods and services to people in certain neighborhoods. It is a reference to the red line which used to be drawn on banking maps, indicating a neighborhood which would not be invested in. Mortgage discrimination is also an important part of redlining, essentially forcing minorities to buy property in certain regions only, assuming that they can buy property at all. This practice is illegal in the US, and is prosecuted when proof that it is occurring can be supplied. Restrictive covenants are terms in a lease or bill of sale which dictate how the property is to be used, and although it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, many such covenants are on a thin line between discrimination and perfectly legal action.

A number of factors contribute to the phenomenon. The first is racism, especially with growing numbers of immigrants from other countries, such as Latin American and Asian nations. Some whites may have a perception that crime rates are higher in neighborhoods with a high concentration of minorities, which may or may not be true. Some are simply racist. In either case, they move.

Blockbusting, a real estate practice, also contributed to historical white flight, and may continue to do so in some regions. This refers to the sale of a property in a primarily white neighborhood to a black family, facilitated by a realtor. When neighboring white households learn of the sale, they fear their their property values will go down; they sell their properties, vanishing into the suburbs. Meanwhile, the realtor stands to make a significant profit.

A number of Americans and communities are harmed by this event. White flight causes the neighborhoods abandoned to decline, because wealthy families are no longer supporting the area. As a result, the gap in access to education and services between rich and poor grows much wider. The racial segregation caused by this phenomenon also leads to lack of cultural exchange and enrichment. Several institutions and organizations are working in the United States to decrease white flight, encouraging the establishment of rich multicultural neighborhoods.


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Post 149

I don't have to live in or around blacks and never will, period! I don't live around Hispanics and never will.

There will always be white flight, and there's nothing wrong with that. People are free to live wherever they choose whether that's around people of their own race or mixed Who cares? People should be able to live around those they wish to live around and not be bashed for it.

Post 148

I was raised in Mississippi. I lived in the same neighborhoods as black people, went to the same schools and essentially lived the same life. Most of the black people I grew up with who became successful left these places and moved to "white" neighborhoods. Is this black flight? Or is that not convenient to your propaganda?

The fact is, we need to realize that complaining about your current status in life is just that: complaining. Since complaints are like buttholes -- we all have them and they all stink -- we can logically assume that if black people spent the time they spend on griping and moaning on investing/working/saving that they would be out of these problematic situations.

That's not really

the issue here, though. The issue I have is with the crap like, "you are white and you are rich because of black people" logic. This shows you are clearly ignorant of American history, and understand very little about slavery in the United States. The fact is, of the white population in the former Confederacy, the day before the civil war started only 5 percent of whites owned slaves, and of that 5 percent, only 1 percent owned more than one slave. In fact, the overwhelming majority of whites in the former confederacy were sharecroppers, a fate not too different from slavery. This is why we coined the phrase "indentured servitude," because they work for no gain -- only survival.

To be clear about those 5 percent and 1 percent stats, for those of you who are literacy challenged, it means that if you have a population of 1 million people, that would make 50,000 slave owners and of those 50,000 slave owners, only 500 owned more than one slave. This isn't a justification, but here are the real numbers, just to put it in perspective for the lazy non-research doing types.

There were approximately 9.1 million people living in the American South, making 5 percent (the slave-owning population -- and this is generous considering many slave owners were black or non-white), or about 45,500 slave owners, which leaves the slave owners who owned more than one slave at 4,550. Now the the American Census information of 1860 tells us that there were 3,521,110 slaves in the former Confederacy, (a majority of the American slave population). The entirety of the U.S. population of the time was about 31,443,321, including slaves.

We are now a nation of 319 million. The United States is a country of immigrants, and our population grew primarily through major waves of immigration. Most of this happened after there was no longer a slave within the entire U.S. population. In fact, the entire point of me showing the stats of 1 percent and 5 percent is to point out that white blame/shame is blaming people, of whom 95 percent are not related in any way shape or form to a slave owner of history. The fact is that most white people are possibly related very distantly to a former slave owner, but do not directly receive any sort of financial or societal advantage because of that.

Hopefully, just to get you critically thinking I'll refer to what are commonly referred to as the "six inconvenient truths about the U.S. and slavery."

1. Slavery was an ancient and universal institution practiced as much by every race as Caucasians.

2. In the U.S., slavery was a very brief and limited event that only relates to a tiny percent of the U.S. population.

3. Although tough, and clearly a human rights violation, slavery was in no way genocidal. Slaves were the highest valued possession of slave owners and in fact, it is counterproductive to damage or destroy your own property. I am not saying I see slaves as property, but the people of the day did. You wouldn't beat the crap out of your car to make it run when it was out of gas would you?

4. American success and wealth today has very little, if anything, to do with slavery. In fact, the most prosperous states in the U.S. were the states that were forerunners in freeing slaves and therefore did not have legal slavery or otherwise afterwards.

5. The U.S. did have slavery, but was the first national to rapidly abolish the concept, a first for the world. The nation should be celebrated as the nation that set an anti-slavery example. Not a slavery country.

6. There is no reason to believe that modern African-Americans would have been better off had their ancestors not been sold to American slave owners. The nations and tribes primarily responsible for selling their own peoples (the primary example of how African slaves made it to the U.S.) are still some of the poorest most oppressive places to live on earth. Little has changed for these people since before the U.S. was founded.

Think for yourself. If you want better for your people, whether it be creed/race/religion/nationality, then better yourself and teach your kids that the world isn't fair. Grow up and stop blaming the other kid when you get in trouble. We are not in first grade anymore. The only way to get rid of the brainwashing you currently believe is to value yourself, and teach your children that they are exactly the same as everyone else.

We may not be a perfect nation, but you live more comfortably than anyone else on earth because of the Americans of previous generations, whether you like it or not.

Get over yourself. It's pathetic and the whole world thinks you and those you associate with are a joke when you try and say the reason your neighborhood sucks is because white people left.

off to better myself and not spend a life being a piece of crap.

Post 147

What is amazing is that this is actually a discussion! Face facts: blacks make up 12 percent of the nation's population and Hispanics approximately 16 percent. Yet these two groups are responsible for over 80 percent of violent crime, rape, robbery, burglary and homicide. (2005 national crime statistics).

Knowing these facts, why as a responsible person (whatever your race) would you want to live in in neighborhoods or communities with predominantly people of color?

Let me give you example you can understand. Near where I live we have rattlesnakes. Now, some may not bite you and some may bite you, But knowing this, I don't go where I know they are. I steer clear of rattlesnakes, I don't hang around

where rattlesnakes are, I don't mess with them and I leave them alone, therefore I significantly reduce the possibility of being bit. I get on with my life and don't worry about it much.

What does this mean? If you live in communities of color, knowing these statistics you will eventually be a victim. So move, get on with your life, work hard, be happy and reduce the possibility of some lowlife ending your life over the 5 dollars in your pocket. Wake up to facts!

Post 146

If it weren't for blacks, you wouldn't be where you are now. But unfortunately you don't know your history. If you all did, white people would be destroyed. No racism against whites or blacks. But not all black people are like that. That is just what you have seen. So really, you all can calm down. It isn't that serious.

Post 145

Well things are pretty much the same here in Fort Worth, Texas. When my family first moved in the neighborhood, there were a few whites still living on the street. Even so, signs of a much worse future began to show. Crime increased and older, more familiar neighbors died or moved away. Today, it is filled with illegal immigrants who play loud music all day on weekends. Police don't seem to care. Some of these people steal and store stuff in back of their homes or on empty lots located net to the street and brazenly sell it during daylight hours as if they were a legitimate business. A lot of them are related so they feel free to terrorize

others who are not on a friendly basis with them. I am black and I myself don't want to live around a bunch of other blacks, whites or hispanics, etc. Whites come with their own problems as well.

Contrary to your opinion, you are not mentally superior or genetically capable of adhering to socially correct behavior any more than any other race. Your race has been able so far to stacks the odds more in your favor. I have seen what people with a certain mindset can do to a once decent neighborhood, but on the job, I also see the arrogance of white privilege. I have had white teachers who openly talked of low income students and their likelihood of growing up as unproductive adults. On the job, I have seen perfectly capable college educated minorities passed over for promotions given to junior college whites with less experience. I have heard the things that these whites say that would be considered rude or racist on the job but because they had the protection of a manager they were spared being written up. At the same time, I have seen what the backstabbing that blacks do to one another as well as the pettiness of office politics.

I personally would prefer to live in a neighborhood with older people or either in a more rural area which may not be much better.

Post 144

What is left unsaid is that whites are uncomfortable around blacks for a myriad of reasons, not all of them obvious at a distance. Blacks tend to have different behavior patterns than whites, as well as different proclivities and values. Most blacks that I know enjoy watching street violence that is on a level that causes revulsion in most whites. Even the women enjoy it. I know because I've dated them. This is one example of the innate personality differences between whites and blacks. Thus, blacks make whites nervous, especially in larger groups, as some of these differences are violent in nature. Reducing the resultant anxiety is a natural motivation for whites to move.

There are clear differences in feel

between poor white and poor black neighborhoods. Poor whites – and other whites -- simply want to live in neighborhoods in which they are comfortable with the culture.

The author's thesis is poorly conceptualized. Blacks complain of white flight of even poor whites, who offer no great wealth to the area. Cultural exchange and "enrichment" is jargon that offers no advantage to blacks, nor is it owed to them. Everyone's culture is their own responsibility.

Lastly, crime is most often higher in minority neighborhoods. I live in a transition zone between old white neighborhoods and black encroachment. Today, you can go online and view up-to-date crime information about my area. There is a clear, and stark, demarcation line between white and black neighborhoods that is drawn by the amount of crime in each neighborhood. One of the scariest types of increased crime is that of home invasions. We never, ever had home invasions before we were adjacent to blacks. Now, everyone has to lock their doors and have a gun to protect their families. There was a black shooting three blocks away recently, in an area that was before a middle class white neighborhood.

There are excellent reasons for past and continuing white flight, and this phenomenon will absolutely continue. It is just. Blacks need to begin asking themselves what is so wrong with their neighborhoods that they need whites in them to make them safe and kept up. Furthermore, whites have a right to be upset when they see that blacks have taken over the neighborhoods, and their assets, that they built up over generations.

There will never be racial peace until blacks learn to live with or without whites. As long as white participation is deemed necessary for black survival and happiness, whites will resist robustly.

Post 142

Anti-Whites say: Whites arriving equals evil White colonization. Whites leaving equals evil White Flight. Whites staying equals evil White Privilege.

When Anti-Whites say there is no such thing as the White race, it is a Freudian slip: Anti-Whites subconsciously will never be happy until every White is dead.

Anti-racist truly is a code-word for Anti-White. And Diversity truly is a code-word for White Genocide.

Post 141

I am moving from my own home in a formerly white suburban community that is rapidly turning black. Ten years ago, it was 5 percent black, and today is 30 percent black. Crime has risen dramatically. Businesses are leaving. Property values are way down compared to all white communities for the same kind of home.

I'm really quite angry about this. I just paid off my beautiful home a year ago. Last week another black family moved in across the street with junk yard cars and crappy furniture. To make matters even worse, the city I live in is offering $10,000 forgivable loan to these people to help them get in. Un-freaking believable. I had to put 20 percent down but they get a free bonus? At least it will help sell my home -- I hope.

Post 140

Why is it racist for whites to say that they don't want to live with blacks but not vice versa? Simple. It's racist but what I've taken from experiences from being around a lot of blacks is that they somehow feel inferior -- not because we make them feel that way, but through their own analysis.

They grow up statistically behind white students, and they see what their own people do. Don't for a second think they don't see what they are. Therefore, it's wrong to say it about them because it just may be true. I don't see many whites feeling looked down upon by blacks.

Post 139

And what many are ignoring when they start on their 'white flight' history diatribes and feel-good explanations, where whites are 'blamed' for neighborhoods going south (blame the greedy realtors, many of whom are black realtors by the way, for block busting while you're at it ), is that black people are happier when white people leave. They want white people to leave. They knew it and planned to usurp the white neighborhoods.

How dumb do you think these black folks moving in really were? They suffer racism. They know whitey is going to run like scared little dogs, and so when the houses start going up for sale, their friends and families move in. Boom. They've taken over and all they

had to do was show up.

Now, the blacks are beginning to experience the karma of their little 'make whitey run' game: Latinos all over the country are moving into black dominated neighborhoods and guess what? They're driving the blacks out of them. And if blacks think whitey's a racist, they ain't got nothing on us. We're a lot more organized and we got the most dangerous gangs on the planet and we are very well connected with each other.

And don't bother trying to run to the whites you've been crapping on and blaming for the last 100 years for all your problems, asking them to 'unite' with you and help you out. They know what helping you out achieves: nothing. You take everything in this country for granted. You don't want to work and you let gangs run the neighborhood instead of realizing the gangs should be working for you, not vice-versa. So now blacks are blaming us and saying we'll ruin their neighborhoods. Well guess what? You ruined a whole lot more neighborhoods than we ever have, ever will, or ever intend to. Now that it's coming back at you, you don't like it do you? negro?

You get neighborhoods, you destroy neighborhoods, and you destroy each other in your neighborhoods. White people wouldn't leave if you acted right, but you don't know how to act like anything but bad neighbors. Latinos will accomplish more with opportunities here in America than you have done in over 200 years!

If white people are dumb enough to move into your neighborhood, you better treat them nice because if you don't, you'll be living next to us cucaraches, huh? We're coming, black people, and we like you but you better be nice, and if you run to whitey's hood again, you better behave yourselves because you're getting fewer and fewer places to run to and destroy.

I'm glad whites run from you because you move in, mess it up, lower the values and then we can afford it.

Post 138

@ post 14, who implied that he/she did not care about people's skin color or what they look like. I just want to say this: I personally do, and so do a lot of (white) people, I suspect. You see, personally I would only want to date, marry, and have sex with blonde, Nordic looking guys. Then it follows that if I want to achieve this goal, I should actively seek these people out by moving to a "whiter" area. When black people, or just plain non-blonde, non-Nordic looking people move into my neighborhood, they are pushing out people who are my potential mates. This impacts on me negatively, so naturally I am against it.

People who honestly don't think

a person's physical looks matter are either lying to themselves or are just incredibly naive. People's physical looks are incredibly important and play a huge role in how others perceive and treat them.

P.S. I wonder if the moderators will allow this post of mine to remain. It is technically incredibly racist. However, it is what I truly think. Please do not censor me.

@Post 17: The poster who proclaims that white flight (at least in the beginning) had everything to do with racism: please 1. Define racism in a meaningful way; 2. Prove that you know why other people do certain things. Truth is, you cannot define racism in a way that will satisfy me, and you cannot get inside other people's brains as to find out why they do what they do, so please kindly be quiet.

The way I see it, white flight happens because white people naturally gravitate towards other white people, because white people are the most enjoyable group of people to be around. They are better-looking, and they act in a way that, at the very least, does not alienate human affection. In other words, white people tend to be lovely people. So it follows that all people want to live with and be close to white people.

When these people (the former) are black, or just non-white in general, we call it racial integration, or the melting pot in action and/or all kinds of positive-sounding things, and those of us who are liberals love this stuff. But when it is other white people who try to do the same (by this, I refer to living among white people), now suddenly it is an unspeakable evil. What a crock. Why can't we all be honest with ourselves and just admit that everybody, and I do mean everybody, wants to live among white people? And while we are at it, let's refrain from scolding white people for doing what we ourselves want to do.

Post 137

I grew up and lived most of my life in mainly white areas. Whenever someone who was of a different ethnic background came to an area, they were always treated with respect, including people who were black.

The difference was that always, the black individuals would eventually either play the race card or confirm some, if not all of the stereotypes that have been attached the race.

Some of my best "friends" were black, but when around other blacks, their true colors would always come through.

In my mind, there is no more prejudice in America. What constantly happens is that blacks need to keep prejudice alive, because if they don't, then there are no more excuses for not being productive members of society that every other ethnic group has embraced.

This is why the "president" tries to continually divide the masses.

Post 136

If you're considering these black folks as an entire group of ghettos, count yourself as a racist. Because it should not be judged so, but from character. Some of them seek good conditions in living and education and that may only be found in the white community. If you found yourself moving out due to the crime rate and perhaps a cleaner environment, the case would be reasonable.

Post 135

So what this piece is saying is: When white people move out, neighborhoods turn to crap? When there's an all white neighborhood in the suburb, there's something wrong with it, but in the city, it's "a rich multicultural neighborhood." There is nothing multicultural about an all black, all Hispanic, all anything neighborhood. You need multiple cultures for it to be multicultural, not simply something other than white.

Also, if people have a problem with white flight, how about look at the reason neighborhoods without white people turn into trash. Why can't "multicultural" neighborhoods be self-sufficient and safe? I know that's asking a lot when I put both of those requirements together: a crime rate at the national average or lower and an unemployment rate at the national average or lower. Good luck finding this in any area that doesn't have white people in it.

Post 133

Call me racist if you will, but I think racism is too broad a term. For example, I am not racist against Asians, Native Americans, Europeans, Indians, Scandinavians, Pacific Islanders, Aussies, or most of the world’s population, but I am racist against “Americanized” Hispanics and Blacks. Why? It’s quite simply because life experience and incarceration statistics have taught me otherwise. And it’s up to them to change the perception and not encourage a culture of ghetto-ism.

Post 132

The facts are that neighborhoods that are predominantly black and/or hispanic have higher crime rates, louder music played at inappropriate hours in inappropriate places and a excessive amount of litter.

Whatever the reasons, these two cultures are aggressive and more prone to violence than most whites and Asians. Acknowledging these truths is what causes white flight. Are some of the whites racist? Sure, and so are some of the blacks and Hispanics. However, the mere act of moving from a neighborhood to have a good quality of life does not denote racism.

Post 131

The average height for a man is about 5'10.5 and for a woman it is about 5'5.5. Some say the average IQ in the U.S is about 95. You can't expect average people to be able to hash racism out in the streets or to even know why they do what they do. To play in the NBA, you must be tall and very athletic. To be able to understand why the USA has done what it has done, you must be somewhat intelligent.

White flight was a mechanism of the United States creating more tax base, a.k.a. money. When businesses expand they make more money. Many white people, like other races, have been conned into paying high

prices to buy a house in a white neighborhood so they work all day just to live there. I live in the hood and don't really work. The basic US policy is divide and conquer and average people, work until they're old and die. Meanwhile, the rich are living the good life.

The USA will be over half minority by 2043, and eventually the USA will have a Chinese president and robots doing labor. The moral to white flight is it was a business strategy created by politicians. Places like Detroit have been hit hard, but again, the average person can't figure this stuff out. They just follow the herd. Keep working your job and living in a white flight neighborhood and don't forget April 15!

Post 129

It is hopeless, now that the voting majority seems to be non-taxpayers and even more frighteningly, on handouts with the right to vote. Roaches spread like wildfire left unchecked, and when you throw in free food, watch out! There are many decent black folk, but sadly not enough of them out there bad-mouthing their brethren who live like insects. White people cannot do this because they are immediately labeled "racist" so instead, they run.

I too will run as far as I can from blacks in my neighborhood because it is all I can do, given the pandering of our elected officials to this growing welfare group that lacks conscience and moral values. Once they are in your backyard, they

denigrate the area, and they will prove to you that being black means rules do not apply.

White people are to blame, I think, because they pick up the slack and trash for the blacks. How many black people do you see volunteering in black towns? Stop doing the grunt work for blacks who call you racist and want even more! That includes fostering their multitudes of fatherless kids. It's time for black people to help their own. If this happens, the country has a chance, but I think the fat lady has already sung.

Post 128

Some of you are delusional and refuse to face facts! The rest of us live in the real world. Face it: in 200 years white people in America put a man on the moon. In 2,000 years, blacks in Africa are still peeing in their bath water. Did blacks contribute to the building of America? Yes they did, but we are paying for it now! Want to see the results of predominantly black leadership, just look at places like Detroit or Chicago. Social programs have bled dry the working class and small business, who, if they were smart, moved away. These are cities that are multi-millions in debt with no real plan for economic growth. This is what

happens when you attempt to live in a liberal utopia, helping people who refuse to help themselves. This is the "everyone is equal mindset".

We are not equal, no matter what your race is. Someone who works hard, saves and takes care of their family deserves the fruits of their labor, not having it stolen in the way of taxes and fees to support the words who refuse to accept any responsibility for themselves or their children.

Grow up! White flight is because people actually care about themselves and their quality life, have a plan and implement it. I applaud the people who see reality and move away from these communities for a better life. When you find yourself standing in a sewer, why sit down and roll in it? Stand up and move away!

Post 127

White flight does not cause segregation; black crime does.

Post 126

It is absolutely ridiculous that people say blacks and other minorities built this country. You actually believe blacks working in cotton fields for 20 years built this country? White Europeans built this country by hand and mind. They fought in the wars that protected this country. And yes a "small percentage" of blacks and other minorities did too. So few they make movies about it. On that subject, when a single black does something exceptional they make a movie about it, when whites do the same things, but ask for no credit and do not make a big deal out of it.

Many minorities would suffer if it weren't for whites donating time and money to help them. In 100

years from now minorities will be exactly the same. Just pay attention. Even blacks who grew up in a white neighborhood and have wealth, fame whatever it may be still end up committing crimes. It is the people in general, not the way they were brought up.

I grew up in a poor white neighborhood. We helped each other. When someone needed help with work, food or had family trouble we helped. Blacks were moved into the school system and then the families moved in. Within a summer, a 14 year old white girl was raped by three blacks. A black stabbed another student with an ice pick. My brother was jumped by black kids. This happened all over our neighborhood. So call me a racist all you want. I'll never live with blacks or Hispanics, if I have to move to the South Pole.

Post 125

One poster said, "Since I have a toddler, the amount of time I spend blaring music has gone down a lot. If that is your only complaint, realize that it is a part of urban black culture, and you have your own cultural habits as well."

So people are just expected to suck it up and tolerate the loud crap music?

Continuous, daily or nightly loud music is enough to make anyone move, if they don't enjoy having their privacy being invaded. It's called inconsiderate behavior, just like hanging outside at all hours of the night, when most people are asleep, as they bounce basketball in their driveways or their friends are all grouped around carrying on as though it's

12 in the afternoon. This is ghetto activity, and just saying, I want at least one black person to answer two questions: Why is it that in forums about towns, a black person can request info from other posters, regarding where there might be a predominantly black area so he or she can live around others of his or her race, but if a white person asks this kind of question he/she is being racist? Second, why is it considered racism to want to live in a city that is made up mostly of people of your own race? Shouldn't people be allowed to live wherever they want and feel comfortable, without being judged? I thought this kind of action is called freedom to live where we choose for whatever reason.

For you to judge otherwise is to have a belief that you have some degree of authority to tell someone their decision to move is right or wrong. In fact, unless you know that someone is moving into your community with criminal intent in mind, it's nobody's business to any degree except the people who are moving.

Post 124

I think the ones who are making comments about blacks being an ignorant race should take a step back and re-read the article, because obviously they have a hard time comprehending what they read. These practices have been going on ever since slavery was abolished. It just so happens that it still exists today.

White people love to say that high crime rates are only due to blacks being in the neighborhood, but what about the white criminals? It is easy to blame it on the black race as a whole, but that is not reality.

As far as racism is concerned, everyone is racist. I just want people to understand that just because a black family moves into a

predominantly white area does not mean that they will blast music or break into your house. Stereotypes will always keep the world divided and makes it difficult to get to know different people. Everyone has an opinion but it is just that, an opinion. Just because a person has one bad experience does not mean that everyone of that color is a horrible person.

Also, blacks have been creating and building since the beginning of time but they were not given the recognition. People have to realize that this country was created on segregation and people in power have been doing their best to keep it that way. White Flight is just an example of it. So people, before writing comments about statistics that are made up, why not research and get the facts?

Post 123

I am white and grew up in a neighborhood that was quickly being overrun by Hispanics. I felt like a foreigner in my own country. I was discriminated against for being white. I had a knife held to my throat, and was robbed several times, all by Hispanics. Those who did speak English only would when absolutely necessary.

I hate going back to my old neighborhood and seeing what it has become. White flight happens for a reason -- a very good reason. Does that make me racist? How about asking the Hispanics who wouldn't talk to me or be friends because I didn't speak Spanish? How about asking the Hispanics who turned a once beautiful neighborhood into a trashy, filthy

music blasting ghetto? They may think its OK to act that way in whatever hell hole third world country they came from, but not in my neighborhood.

No, I would never live in a predominately Hispanic, Black or minority neighborhood. I value my life, property and neighbors. That doesn't make a racist. That makes me smart.

Post 121

Asians are worried about blacks, too. I am a young professional Asian-American. I have black friends, and will never hesitate to befriend any decent human being. However, experience has taught me that while there are many cool individual black people, a large group of black people tend to revert to the mean - violent and poor. This is why I will pay as much as I can to buy a home in a place far, far away from black communities.

When I see a thug of any race, I cross the street to avoid confrontation. It just so happens that most of the "thugs" I've encountered are black. I've only been cheated once, and it was by a black person (never

been cheated by a person in my life and I've done hundreds of Craigslist type transactions, mostly with non-blacks). I've always been attacked once, and it was by a black woman.

Am I racist? Yes, I've learned to be racist. I'm racist because I want to protect my property and my life. When I see a snake quickly approaching me, I first get out of the way, then wonder whether it is poisonous or not. Unfortunately, I react to black people in the same way.

Post 120

The writer says, "Some whites may have a perception that crime rates are higher in neighborhoods with a high concentration of minorities, which may or may not be true". Methinks the writer needs to do his homework before writing. He'd find that this is fact, not something made up by paranoid housewives or racists, but it's not nice to point out such facts, of course.

Those people who understand those facts and seek areas to reside in that are whiter and safer are haters and racists and are expected to tolerate the high crime for the sake of being diverse. Gee.

Post 119

I have lived in black neighborhoods. I have been spit on, called names and assaulted. Why? Because I am white. There is more to this. I no longer consider the black race as actually human. I have researched the demographics of the USA and without fail, every single state that has a large black population has declining economics, declining schools, high crime and a general decline in basic respect for others. This is all driven by blacks refusing to accept responsibility for anything.

Now, I am not a racist, but I will not stick my head in the sand and be ignorant of facts. I no longer care why, I just moved to a predominantly white area in the Northwest

, therefore I no longer have to think about it or worry about it. I can focus on the fact that I actually have a vastly improved quality of life with people who I can trust and respect. Now when I walk down the street people wave and say "Hi" instead of "Cracker". My new neighbors watch out for each other, instead of trying to rob you. Life is good!
Post 117

I would just like to live around white people. I don't want to live around blacks. Does this make me racist? Yes, to some degree. I look at it like this though: who cares about a label when you are talking about your life? Peace of mind means way more then being called a racist.

I don't like living around black people, but right now, I do live around them. Crime is high, you have to make sure your doors are locked and you have a loaded weapon that is accessible. I don't want to live like this all my life.

Post 114

The amount of racism on this page disgusts me. Most, but not all, of the people who have commented on this article are grossly misinformed or have taken things out of context.

African Americans moving into a mainly white populated area are not the reason that area ends up declining, especially in a more middle/upper class neighborhood/city. I suggest everyone here take a step back without a cloud of racism and really think about this. If African Americans didn't exist, we'd still have crime. We'd still have bad neighborhoods. We would still have rape and burglary. Just because their skin color isn't white doesn't mean that they're not human and any more prone to doing harm than whites

. In fact, scientists say that there is not difference in race when it comes to science. We are all built the same way. In fact, skin color is only based on where a certain group of people lived in the past and thus their bodies changed according to that environment.

I am a middle class "white" female student who is studying to be a teacher. I am studying how white flight destroys educational systems in an area and how that affects your children. So maybe you "whites" should think about how you are the ones causing the decline in those communities that have experienced white flight.

A great video for all to watch is a episode from “Dateline” from 1997 entitled "Why Can't We Live Together?" I'm sorry to seem spiteful, but the amount of racism and hate on this page is astonishing. Maybe instead of bolstering this hate, you should be seeking ways to help prevent things that you experienced from happening again in the future. How are we going to move forward and become a better country and provide a better home for our children if all we hold is hate for those different than we are? At the end of the day, we are all human.

Post 113

There are people who came to America from Europe and are thrown for a loop when they experience race reality here.

Fallen human nature being what it is, when the English were still in England, they hated the French and Germans, and the French disliked the English and hated the Germans. The Poles hated the Germans and Russians, the Russians hated the Germans, and the Germans continued hating themselves, as well as each other, depending upon what region they were from.

But now that all the Europeans are in America, they are fast friends with a common foe: African-Americans.

I know a guy who, thirty years ago, used to complain about "all the Italians and Greeks" in the city. Now they all complain about "East Indians and Orientals." Saint Paul was right. "Love is the greatest." Get with it, y'all.

Post 112

Great progress has been made in race relations since the 1960s, but there is still plenty more to do.

Now, because white folks have been the recipients of white privilege for hundreds of years, and because America's wealth was, and is, built by the sweat, blood and tears of people of color, white folks should have to pay even more taxes to make equality a reality.

Post 111

How about trying real freedom? If one group of people wants to live among their own kind, let them. The group that wants to mix it up, move to a neighborhood that is mixed race.

What about people who are forced by the government to pay for other people? That's a problem.

Maybe it's time for the second American revolution to attain real freedom.

Post 109

I would like to know more about white Americans who have actually left the USA permanently to get away from African-Americans. Where are they going?

Post 108

Amazing, growing up in a small isolated town in Alaska, I only had seen one black person until I was 16 and moved to the lower 48 (states).

I never had any assumptions about blacks until I had to live around them. They destroy everything they touch.

I'm older and smarter now, and I live in a area with less than 1 percent black population, and it is heaven. I can live a life without fear and enjoy life. It's really simple. If you care about quality of life, want to be proud and enjoy the fruits of your labor, work, respect for others, and have a nice life, don't live in areas with a large black population. It's really that simple. No one can prove this wrong.

Post 107

I have to agree with most of these posts. I'm mixed (black/white), and even I don't want to live around black people. As I type this, it's 1:48 a.m. and my neighbors are gathered around their car bumping hip hop so loud my bedroom window is vibrating. If I go outside and ask them to cut it down, they want to fight. The local police no longer respond to noise complaints. So that pretty much limits me to moving. Again and again and again.

So many blacks have zero respect for their neighbors and no concept of common courtesy whatsoever.

Post 105

Research shows that most areas dominated by minorities (studies done equate minorities to meaning Hispanic and black in this case) are much higher in certain crimes than white areas, those crimes being violent crimes like theft, burglary, assault, vandalism, etc. In white areas, usually drugs will be the worst problem and attached to loud parties or people smoking pot in their front yard or in their parked car in front of their house. In my opinion, I'd gladly trade the black area for the white area anytime. Since 1981, I've moved around constantly, from apartment complex to apartment complex. I'd move into a place that was predominately white and everything would be cool. I rarely saw a cop called on

anyone, except maybe because of a loud late night party now and then. Sooner rather than later, Hispanics or blacks (or both) would move in and become the dominant culture (s). Suddenly, vandalism, theft, loud noise (music, boom cars) at all hours of the day and night, residents hanging out in the parking lots at all hours at night, coke machines broken into, washers and dryers broken into, and worse became the norm. I've moved in to 13 apartment complexes in the past 25 years due to this problem. Every complex I moved in to was mostly white when I first moved in and I was happy. There was no major crime, and everything was good. After a couple years or less of living in each one, minorities would move in and everything would go to hell.

People who read this post know exactly what I'm talking about, but it's not nice to admit it. It's equal to being a "hater" even if what one says is true, if it defames an entire culture or race. Facts aren't racist – unless, of course, the facts pertain to a culture or minority group and then it's just racism. Here's some real racism for you. I'm moving to a city that consists of over 32, 000 people but is only 11 percent black and only 3 percent Hispanic. It's about 83 percent white. People tend to not sell their property to minorities there because they realize just how crime free the city is, being mostly white. I can't wait to get there, as I'm currently living in the Dallas area, which is one of the worst places to live.

The entire state of Texas welcomes these people with open arms. Texas politicians are so diversity crazy that the blacker and browner the state gets, the happier they are. Texas stinks! It's become one huge ghetto.

The only people who say otherwise are people who've never lived in anything better. They don't see a ghetto for what it is and to the whites who have never lived in a ghetto and are against white flight, you have no idea what you're up against until you live in a ghetto. Not ever being subjected to that kind of environment has kept you naive.

Post 104

If the white man never existed, where would blacks be right now? They all would still be living in Africa with an average life expectancy of 25-30 years.

There would be no electricity, no cars, no written language. They might actually lead happier lives in that condition, living without the anger and jealousy.

All men are *not* created equal, and modern science has already revealed solid evidence with genome study.

Post 103

I have read this article and also the comments which were left predominantly by white racist people I guess. The issue for white people is that for 6,000 years, you have had pretty much the best of the world and its resources to yourself. The large majority of you do not believe in God. For if you did, then you would know that God created the universe and everything in it. he did not create it solely for the purpose of the white race, but that is the environment that you prefer.

People of color talk about the White race being a devil breed and race because of what? Well, the destruction, the lies, the murder, the corruption, the robbery

, the hypocrisy. Not only of your successive governments, but of your ancestors and manifesting itself in you people today. America, the land, both North, Central and South. The Caribbean, The Asias and Africa. Nobody invited your race there. You had no visa, no passport, yet you came and stole, killed, raped, deceived, etc. What is the legacy you left behind if you consider yourselves really human? Did you provide a way out of poverty for people of color? No.

The reason for this is because the ways of your people is the way of your Father, Satan. Yes, you have intelligence. Given to you by him. But what do you use that intelligence for?. You use it solely to advance your racist theories and actions. You are really trying to tell me that if everybody, regardless of race had enough land, food, water, education, etc., we would be having this debate now? Of course not, but then life to most white people is just about getting a good education, making money and living in a neighbourhood with no crime.

They want to raise an all white family who will go on to be the next generation of oppressors of all people of color around the world. This was not God's intention for mankind, so if your sole intention is to denigrate people of color and to reinforce your views on white flight, capitalism, democracy and racism, which, by the way, are all branches of the same thing, then understand why you are despised by the rest of the people on earth.

You can call us all the names under the sun, backward, primitive, etc., but at least we had all what we needed before the intervention of the White race in our lives.

Either embrace the wisdom of being human or remain a devil like your father Satan. After all, what are you going to do? Take your million dollar homes with you into the grave?

Post 102

To understand white flight, just look at the videos of looters during hurricane sandy when it hit Atlantic City, or any looting for that matter. Enough said.

Post 101

Why hide all this from the people? I have been in the US for six years and I have never heard of such things until today. This means that anyone who immigrates to the US does not really understand where they are going.

There is just more than this garbage you who always says "other countries are poor, let's be proud and cherish America better!" What makes America so precious? The above complaints or the worst complaints not yet revealed?

I am American by the way, and this still amazes me.

Post 99

Five years ago, I would have never considered moving out of California, much less the US. Now, that’s all I think about. America has become a place where you’re not allowed to have pride in anything -- not in your beautiful home or car, or in being white, or black, or Italian, or Christian, or smart or hard working.

Now, we’re constantly bombarded with the struggle of the “under-class” – name any class you like -- as the class in point varies from month-to-month and election to election. Well, I’m sick of it. I’m tired of feeling like I’ll never be rewarded for getting up every single day day to do a job that I could take or leave

, in order to feed my children, keep a nice new car underneath us, and a sturdy nice roof above us.

I’m disgusted by “the establishment's” attempts to make me feel like a bad person because I don’t want to work my tail off in order to provide free lunch for two thirds of the school, or as a previous poster noted, furnish school supplies for all the other kids in the school whose parents fill out the paper that says, “Sorry, I can’t afford to provide anything for my child. However, I expect all the other parents to,” without any proof whatsoever that they can't afford to do so.

I’d venture to guess that almost all of the responders to this article are solidly middle class (like me). Simply put, the real issue in America is the lack of support for the middle class; the lack of support for the people who work every day and don’t ever ask for handouts - the backbone of our society.

I want to live someplace where hard work, pride in myself and respect for my neighbors and community is rewarded, and not seen as something to attack or profit from. Does that place exist? It is not a white or black thing; it is a class thing. Oh pardon me. I mean it’s a “classlessness” thing. It's no longer just White Flight; it’s middle class flight/fright!

I am a 40-year old black woman. I am a home owner. I am divorced. I have three daughters (I'm always terrified for their safety). I am just like all of you, and I want the same thing that all of you want: to be miles away from the unemployed, unmotivated, loitering, criminal, system-milking riffraff who steal my sense of peace and enjoyment, and make me wonder if I have a future in this great country “of ours?"

Post 98

I just had two black guys try and rob my house in the middle of the night while me and my wife were sleeping. We've lived in this neighborhood for nearly twenty years. It used to be all white, now it's turning very black very quickly, and the crime is going through the roof! Home invasion robberies up and down the streets, car break-ins, burglaries, you name it. I just bought a shotgun and I'm hoping that I don't have to use it.

It's just very disconcerting when you are sound asleep, then suddenly a couple of thugs are pounding on your door at 2:00 in the morning, and then creeping up your driveway with their hands inside their

oversized jackets trying to get into your back gate.

We are in the process of looking for a new home. It's a shame because we raised all our kids in this neighborhood, and it used to be a good area.

Also, the Safeway store by our house is about ready to go out of business because of all the theft increasing in the last few years. And you can guess which color of people is predominantly patronizing the store now.

So if you are white, don't let some stupid white liberal columnist try and guilt you into feeling like a racist because you've witnessed with your own eyes the destruction of a once good area to live that is now predominantly black, and the havoc they have wreaked upon it.

Post 96

Black Americans have lower IQs than the average white person (and indeed Asian and other ethnic backgrounds). It isn't about color; it is about race (and in the case of Islam, religion as well). It has been proven. No one wants to admit it and that's why nothing will change.

The fact is, Black Africans can't build a proper community. Why do you think Africa is still largely a corrupt, useless continent after well over a trillion dollars have been thrown at it? Japanese, Chinese and white populations do not have this issue. Germany was bombed to the ground in World War II and is now a full democratic, prosperous country. Africa has had decades and massive aid and is

still useless.

When you import useless people to your country, why the surprise when it turns out useless? It isn't racism; it is the sad truth. No surprise to find the author of this article doesn't live in a black African neighbourhood. Very easy for him to call people moving away from black ghettoisation racist.

Post 95

Well, my family was the 'trash' of the hood when we were among other trash, but when we moved to the suburbs, the neighbors yelled out their windows "go back to where you came from, white trash". I would have felt bad for any blacks who had to live near my family.

Post 93

I'm not American and this has revealed my incredible naievity about how wrong your country is.

The first issue you have is how the right to bear arms ends up shooting your butts off when it comes to controlling crime. How can you control ignorant, uneducated drug dealers who are high on drugs, and willing to die for a condom and armed like your police?

Crime -- your police don't want to die for low wages to rescue a group of people in a poor neighbourhood who will do the same crimes again the next day to their own families.

As for drugs, you can't stop the spread of drugs when you have untouchable gangs who own whole towns.

And poverty

, well, you can't change people's lives when they are immersed in a culture of poverty and have no positive experiences outside of poverty, crime and violence.

You'd need radical solutions to change that culture. Gun free zones where guns are illegal based on the crime rate, increased investment in police staff, equipment, and greater and relaxed powers of arrest, independent corruption control agencies, harsher punishments for first offenders and minor criminals.

Then you have to target the culture, enforce noise restrictions with jail time, curfews with instant jail time and lock up all those animals in a zoo where they can keep to themselves without bothering working, decent folks.

Post 92

Regardless of how uncharacteristic of me it is to respond to comments left behind in the wake of an article posted on a site titled "wisegeek", the ongoing, undefended rant several respondents have left compels me to share another opinion.

I am a biracial (Irish/German mother, black father) who lives in California. I was raised in a predominantly rural, white town that included both the impoverished and the elite.

The major difference I have always understood about race relations is that to be unaware of racism- to think that it doesn't exist in a measurable way to most people outside of the majority- is a gift. Please cherish it.

At the age of seven, I understood why my new neighbors

weren't allowed to play at my house. It didn't take this child long to feel ostracized at school, or feel sympathy for the babysitter who was harassed for tending to my brother and me on Wednesdays when my parents volunteered 20 miles away at a homeless shelter. Being lighter complexioned meant that I was privy to the terrible thoughts my racist community members really held towards blacks (I often joke with friends today that I am a "daywalker").

You all write with intelligence and have real conviction and worry behind your thoughts, but I beg of you to contemplate: what if everyone of a darker skin hasn't just fabricated their tales of being treated on a sub-human level? What if they're most often true and painful insecurities often worn as aggression?

I try not to blame racism for my life's shortcomings, but I was raised by a very diverse immediate family with positive examples of hardworking adult Americans. I also try not to assume that the possibility of laughing off being called racist slurs, having KKK burned into my family's barn, being physically assaulted, overcoming the adversity, teaching people that difference is nothing to fear, rolling my eyes whenever asked to explain an episode of "In Living Color", and smiling when someone was compelled to touch my hair would have existed if -- if anything was different!

People, "blacks" and others you don't necessarily understand are soulful, heart-felt human beings like you. Honestly. Nobody wants to hurt you. Yes, my black cousins think their music is amazing and enjoy playing basketball into the night. But my white cousins can be very mean girls with manipulative streaks. I don't judge either- they're not better or worse, but life is challenging. Growing up is painful. Defenses become hard wired.

I can't keep negativity or fear in my heart because I know that we all (white, black) want to be good people, but if someone doesn't seem like it maybe, just maybe our world's inequalities have gotten the most of them -- consciously or not -- and if you can't relate, well, isn't that truly a gift?

Post 91

I feel like this article tries to make white people seem like the ones at fault in the situation of some black people routinely and consistently ruining every neighborhood they move into.

It seems like people don't want to blame black people and communities for all the things they do wrong these days. This is simply ridiculous and unfair to whites.

Post 90

It's not just blacks that drive property values down. We moved to our neighborhood about ten years ago. We were "moving up." My husband and I both work. He's white, I'm Latina. We were very glad to be able to afford a nice home in a beautiful neighborhood. We were glad that our son would go to good schools. When we moved in, most of our neighbors were older, white couples. There were two black families in our little subdivision and a Latino family as well. The neighborhood then was very well taken care of. It had neat lawns and block parties on the Fourth of July. Everyone was courteous to us and welcomed us to the neighborhood.

Ten years

later, a couple of the older people have passed on and their homes were sold to "ghetto latinos." I absolutely deplore the kind of people that have moved in. They park their cars on their lawns when they have perfectly good driveways. I wonder if they do it on purpose to annoy the rest of us? They play their ranchero music loud, their rap loud and bring their thug noisy friends over. Since they've moved in the crime in our area has increased. We think it's because their thug friends must come back while the rest of us are at work. It's horrible! People have moved away. The young couples who can, that is. We haven't yet, but are seriously considering it. Who wants to live in an area with untidy lawns and a growing crime rate?

Also, the neighboring subdivisions have experienced an influx of these types of people and the schools that we were so proud to have our son attend seem now to be overrun with these ghetto latinos. We received a letter from the school district informing us that they are now below the standards set by the state of Texas. Wonderful. At the start of the school year, when it was Meet the Teacher Night, I overheard one ghetto latina tell another that she does not bother buying her kids school supplies because the school provides them for free. This rankled me severely as we always spend upwards of one hundred dollars on school supplies alone. Five boxes of crayolas? Five boxes of colored pencils? Five boxes of 24 count no. 2 pencils? And the list goes on. I guess I must be providing for that woman's children as well. I'm positive my child does not go through that many crayolas in one year.

In any case, it's not always racist to move away from this type of situation. You just want a better life for yourself and your children.

Post 89

The problem is more complicated than many can entertain. The issue of ghetto Blacks did not come out of a vacuum. Whites created much of the legacy of poverty, and it is part of the historical record. Also, if you discriminate in employment, then there's no surprise. Also, there are people who take credit for "whiteness." Don't take credit for the achievements of others. Take credit for your own achievements, or the lack thereof.

As for me, I want as far away from white and black, as humanly possible. The whites are even worse than the blacks, because they destroy the earth "legally."

I would daresay that the Anglo-America has done more damage to the earth, than all scientific

breakthroughs that have wrought any benefit in their totality. You cannot eat an iPod, but you can stick it.

The blacks are merely victims, but "whiteness," that evil lie, is killing us all, and is a disease of the mind. You want to be white? Ask yourself why, then get as far away from me as possible. Only a coward seeks to take credit for the perceived achievements of others. This is much like wrapping yourself in that filthy flag of yours.

The same system of "whiteness mythology," all lies, will destroy us all. No one discovered gravity or America!

As for those African countries you wish to disparage, they are under the same assault most of the world is from U.S. and British imperialism. "They that wish evil on others, deserve no good for themselves." There's always someone who wants to take credit for the collective comfort of a people, to feel politically endowed with some level of comfort, at the expense of the others. No surprise, but there is no shortage of cowards.

As it is, your pathetic falling quickly by the weight of its own corruption, and you will suffer from the very illnesses you are so quick to point out in others.

Post 86

I understand the reasons for what some call white flight. I am a woman of color and it is challenging to live amongst ignorance, violence and economic depression. I have lived and traveled extensively and I have found that class is more of a factor than race. I have lived in middle-class rural New England and when visiting the poorer area of my 98 percent white state, saw the worst of ghetto mentality and living than I have ever experienced in urban ghettos. I was scared for my life.

The heroin was like the cities' crack epidemic. They were blasting crazy rock and rap music. Cars, trash and snotty nosed kids were everywhere. I am not hating on them, but

this is fact.

The history of blacks in this country is complex. No other race has been forcibly taken, stripped from all their own language and culture, raped and forced to breed for white men who sell their own seeds down the river. Well, any psychologist and/or religious person can see this in conjunction with poverty, continued racism and post traumatic stress syndrome (passed down the generations) is a hotbed for violence and oppression.

Blacks shouldn't have to leave and Africa has been deliberately destabilized by multinationals and governmental agents of white supremacy. I am a Tuscarora woman (Native American). So if anyone should go, it should be all whites and most other immigrants. For better or worse blacks (literally) built this country off the sweat of bloodstained, whipped backs and free labor for over 400 hundred years.

I disdain ignorance and no one really wants to live in unsafe, impoverished and drug riddled communities. But misplacing the blame and root of all this is wrong. Look at your own backyard and give an honest assessment of the reality of poor, ignorant and ghetto whites we don't want to live around. Maybe trailer-park trash. Don't dish it out if you can't take it.

Post 85

America has two guarantees: Freedom and the pursuit of happiness. If I like my white race, and am happy with being amongst my white ilk, why do I not have the freedom to pursue this happiness? Segregation 2.0 is the only answer. It should be the right of any race to live amongst themselves, regardless of color.

Unfortunately, blacks cannot survive on their own. They have to take what others have built or own to survive in any advance society. If this is not true, give them the best city in the country, let them rule it all for themselves, and see what you have in five years. Third world people (and less) are more than just their skin. You

can't just throw money at them or be kind and give them things. Jump starting nature is not within the means of mankind. That is the ultimate truth. The statistics are there in every city, every town, every neighborhood.

There is only one reason for all of this: votes. The more uneducated, worthless bodies you have, the easier it is to sway them. The more you have, the more power you have to do as you please with things that most with intelligence and reason would not do. So that is why your towns and cities are left to waste by people that should not be there. It is for power.

And those that have done this do not care about you, or the blacks, or the illegal aliens. They live well, while you live with their herd of voters. You suffer, not them. And this has spread worldwide, and is getting worse.

Post 84

So if I choose to live among decent, hard working people rather than in the ghetto, I'm a racist? Well I guess I'll be a happy, safe and contented racist then.

Post 83

For 147 years Black people have been free from slavery. Asians faced the same racism that blacks have but they moved beyond it and became successful. Why are non-black races expected to support or subsidize black people still after 147 years by staying in neighborhoods that have become dangerous because of black crime?

Blacks have been segregating themselves for decades to places like Georgia and other Southern States because they want to live among other blacks, but when whites do this it is racist. Now there are mobs of black youth around the country attacking whites and validating the need for segregation not integration.

Self-preservation and the quality of life is part of American history and blacks who will not take responsibility for the quality of their life are the only ones to blame.

Post 82

I've been living in my formerly nice neighborhood for eight years now. Lots of blacks have recently moved here and it's not safe anymore. They broke into my car, smoke weed all day/night and sell their dope to friends, making deals at all hours of the night.

There was a riot instigated by them in the middle of my street a couple years ago. It was obviously racially motivated.

It's a jungle here now and I'm going to have to sell my home thanks to these people.

Post 81

I'm white, and I live in the Bay Area. I hate it here. I don't want to live around all the blacks. I don't like when black kids walk as slow as they can through crosswalks while giving you dirty looks at the same time. I don't like how the 4th of July gunshots and fireworks start in early June. I don't like people doing donuts on my street a few houses down. I especially hate the feeling of being at work and wondering if I remembered to lock the door of my home, and close all the windows.

I don't like people walking up and down the street at all hours of the day and night. Or the groups

of black people who don't work and stand in front of their house all day while you are working. I want to be around my own people, but, after living amongst the blacks in the bay area so long I'm sure I won't even fit in with my own kind now.
Post 80

I am a white single parent to my biracial child. We finally bought our first small home when he was 15. We moved in, and the neighbors (African American) were nosy, had no boundaries, were loud, didn't care that their dogs barked for six hours at a time, bragged about how their dog killed a cat, and finally, after me suffering though six months of constant barking, when I asked them if their dog wanted to come inside, was told that they "own the neighborhood".

Later, I was told that their "gang friends wouldn't like that", and when I went to the PD, was told that it was probably "male bravado". My son and I had to hibernate inside for

three years. Finally, it appears their pitbull has been declared dangerous by the city, and so they only bring it outside when they know animal control is closed (outside business hours) so at least there is some peace.

I hate to hear the rap and oldies soul (example “Between the Sheets") all day from their garage. They have zero respect for their neighbors! He even sprayed my plants with roundup along the fence, then denied it! I have had things stolen (even flats of plants) from my yard, have had three (so far) stolen bikes dumped in my yard. The last one I took and hid in my basement and have not returned it to them; we'll see if they do that again. I've had broken bottles thrown on my driveway. It's just sociopathic behavior.

I wasn't racist before (hence buying my house next to these creeps), but now I am, and we are looking to sell (but good luck to me because of these creeps). I will never live next to blacks again! There is a lot more I could tell you, but I think you get the gist.

Post 79

I'm black, and I've lived just outside Tampa, Florida's Central Park Village projects until I was 13 and my family moved to Palma Villa -- great neighborhood. No black teens (which I didn't mind because having never internalized gangsta rap's self-destructive messages, I didn't really relate to the teens in the projects), a couple of older black families, some hispanic, mostly white. It was awesome.

Suddenly, Tampa decided to try some bone-headed, idiotically naive, patently liberal idea: Demolish the housing projects and give the inhabitants section 8 vouchers, and move them into good neighborhoods. The thinking was that moving these people into areas that were relatively crime-free would reform all their criminal tendencies and make them appreciate a decent

life and live peacefully among decent people. Didn't work.

Now this place is a couple steps above a ghetto. The local park overlooks a street full of drug dealers, and there are weekly arrests where entire households are taken away. Young drug dealers stand outside the park fence and loiter in the street at all times of day, glaring at everyone as they pass on foot, as if they are the only people who have a right to be there. A week later, a new batch of criminals show up and move in. It is not racism that causes people to move when a black family shows up; it's the worry that behind that single family are two to eight more families with criminal teenage sons.

Post 78

Happening to me right at this moment: I moved from Atlanta to the coast, along with my wife and two children, in order to fulfill a promise to my wife's father. That promise was to take care of his parents. He was dying and he could no longer do it himself.

We paid in full for a nice little 3/2 in a quiet little neighborhood next to a hospital. Our new neighbors were so kind to us and we learned everyone was very close. We never had to lock up our homes like prisons, nor our cars. Yes, everyone was kind and looked out for each other.

Fast forward 10 years. My older neighbors have died out. The hospital has

grown so much that it literally leveled an entire three blocks for new construction, mainly for parking. Street traffic has increased by 300 percent, as well as the foot traffic. So now the fun part.

Since then, the homes in our area are being occupied now by section eight African Americans who have destroyed our quietness. Cars and homes are being broken into and invaded. I have to lock down my home like a fort, even as far as having to arm myself due to the constant foot traffic which invariably are young men with attitudes and violent behavior. I watch drug deals going down and can do nothing. Our once cute little slice of suburban garden is a hodgepodge of tattered homes and over-grown yards. Even my Porsche has been vandalised three times with no regards to my family.

So yes, it is a fact that some African-Americans can and will ruin life for others. Sorry, but the truth hurts. It hurts me and my family every day.

Post 77

I am a black woman. My husband is a white man. We have a mixed daughter. We live in a small, very small, mixed neighborhood surrounded by ghettos. Nothing ever happens on this street except for the occasional loud music and, well, that's it. The neighborhood can be described as poor, maybe lower middle class. I am an educated woman, and so is my husband. While we are at peace in our neighborhood, hearing the gunshots down a few streets from our home is unsettling. I don't want any stray bullets hitting my daughter, or me, or my husband while we are living peacefully in our home. Our Hispanic neighbors across the street tend to stare a lot too. It

is a bit nerve wracking, but we tend to ignore it. Once I am finished with school in a few months and get some time on a job, we will be leaving.

While I do hate to say it, sometimes racism is the reason whites leave, especially when the black families that move in are equally as educated and wealthy as themselves. It's kind of like an "I don't want you to have what I have" kind of thing. Go figure. No matter what blacks do, it's always wrong. Yet we also bring ourselves down at the same time, once we have been trained by our families and society in self-loathing. I refuse to be stuck, and if someone wants to move just because they see me, so be it. I would hope that my daughter would be able to make friends with people from all walks of life, but the truth is I'm not sure if that is something she might come to know.

A Hispanic poster above posted that whites should be afraid of blacks and that racist whites were smarter. My friend, if I'm so dangerous going to school and helping to provide for my family, you should sleep with one eye open because I must be a danger to society. You don't get it: Whites who fear blacks for those reasons will also fear you. Please get that through your head. People, we need to pull together. Until then, everyone will suffer. Everything about my life is diverse: my family, friends, and my immediate family. Nothing has come of it so far except functioning as a family and living like anybody else.

Yes, I play my music loud sometimes: I'm young! And it isn't just rap; it's also rock, pop, trance, techno, dubstep – whatever I feel like listening to. Since I have a toddler, the amount of time I spend blaring music has gone down a lot. If that is your only complaint, realize that it is a part of urban black culture, and you have your own cultural habits as well. I've heard white people blaring music, but because it's rock, is that better? Oh, rap too, by the way.

Bottom line: This is dumb. Moving for safety is understandable. Who likes the ghetto moving in and changing the neighborhood? Not me. Moving because of no other reason than the person moving in next door is black? Nonsense. Move to an island out at sea, or get used to it! Period.

Post 76

People tend to throw around the word "racism" so easily these days.

All blacks are not bad. I do not want ghetto blacks moving in next to me. If they abide by the laws, keep their yards in order, etc,. I could care less what color their skin is. No one, white or black, wants to live next to that crap.

So, if large groups of whites left because they felt like their standards of living were diminishing because of larger populations of blacks moved in, so what?

Post 75

I live in Kansas City MO. In the 90's my neighborhood block wasn't so bad. However, today more older people who lived in the houses on my street have died and their children just sell the house to whoever they want and often times it's a low income black family.

On the 4th of July, I had never seen so many thuggish blacks and women dressed like hookers. It kind of looked like something off of that Keesha Fabo video on youtube. The crime stories get more and more depressing. I recently heard that an 84 year old woman was raped and her 93 year old husband were beaten by the same man. I hope to move out of here as soon as possible.

Post 74

Thank god I don't live in the USA. You guys are crazy!

Post 73

An older guy was telling be about his childhood in Philadelphia. He said he lived on an Italian street. There were German streets, black streets, Polish streets, Irish streets, etc. This was back in the 30s and 40s. He said anyone could walk on any street and be safe. Then, hordes of southern rural blacks started to move in, and everyone else, white and black, moved out to the suburbs. It was not "white flight"; it was fear of feral blacks.

Post 72

I live in California, and am well aware of the dangers of places such as Oakland. However, while thug life is a way of life for many black people, there are also white thugs. The KKK, white lower class people, and rednecks terrorize places too. In my town, there are few black people. However, we have plenty of drug dealers and gangs and thugs. I don't live in the dangerous (hispanic) part of town, but I am threatened by low-life scum where I live, and these have all been white.

Sadly, black people aren't the only groups have people who are violently out of control. I am thinking of leaving the state or the country, it is so bad.


those of you who think that by moving to a northern white state, things will be improved, think again. This is larger than just black-on-white violence. If you move to a poor, violent, white area where drug use is rampant, you may find that crime may victimize you there, as well.
Post 69

I would tell any white liberal to go and move into the inner city. Heck, send your kids to an all black school.

Post 68

My middle class neighborhood is turning black and with it the crime rate is increasing. I won't mention the loud rap music played all hours of the night or the rudeness in the grocery stores now.

I just contacted a realtor and I'm out of here.

Post 67

This article claiming that white flight is based primarily on racism and secondly on a "perception" of higher crime rates in minority areas? The higher crime rates are absolutely real. Crime statistics in every city in the country bear this out.

It wasn't "racism that led whites to attempt to force blacks out" of their neighborhoods, as the article says. It was an attempt to protect their lives, property, safety and standards of living.

There's nothing racist about that. That isn't racist; that's human nature. It's more about how some people behave and how they live than about their skin color. There is a difference, in case you hadn't noticed. Take a single black person and put him by himself

, and he will behave himself and act like a gentleman, but put him in a group with a dozen others and watch what happens -- very different story. Only people who have never lived among blacks will deny this.

Most whites I know don't give a crap about what color other people are; it's about how they behave, how they live and their community values. We can get along with anyone who shares similar behaviors, and values whatever color they are.

anon36010, anon52547, anon64704, anon116020 have said it much better than I could have.

@wisetami: Thank you very much for your comment! That's what I'm talking about, and I'm not the only one who feels that way.

Post 66

From my observations, one of the most important difficulties that must first be overcome is the predominant inability for upper class and middle class blacks to disassociate themselves from the lower classes of their own society. We upper class and middle class whites readily identify our lower class, our white trash, and disassociate ourselves from them, but blacks seemingly are unable to disassociate themselves from their own trashy people.

Once the good blacks no longer are willing to support those of their own who make their entire race look bad, then that element will shrink due to the overwhelming lack of support, and for the betterment of all.

Post 65

Here's the deal. I'm a white person who has recently gone from a well-paying job to a job that pays barely half what I made a few months ago before becoming briefly unemployed.

I am renting a home near Brandon, FL and am not happy with what I see. Racial integration is fine when the people who live in a community have similar values and keep their property up and take pride in their communities. I have no issue with living with people of other races.

What I don't like is those who have the chromed-out cars with stereos blaring as they roll down the street. What I don't like are the folks down the street who have different

cars parked on the street in front of their house all the time, day and night. I don't like the folks who walk down the street in my relatively new community with their hands in the pockets of their ripped jeans, hair down to their waists, walking in the weird way that overconfident, urban people tend to walk (as though they're the "bomb" and that's it). These things drive property values down and make this place not the kind of place where I feel comfortable raising my children.

Race is less an issue than folks simply taking pride in our community and acting in a manner that is respectful of others and are respectable, themselves.

Post 64

@anon52547: "Without whites, blacks are incapable of building and sustaining a civilized society."

Sounds right to me. Look at Africa. The poorest, least developed inhabited continent on the planet. Civil war, famine, disease, tribal genocide, religious persecution are everyday occurrences there. And it has nothing to do with "whites".

Post 63

Hey let's face it. Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, whites and blacks who consider themselves Americans and have jobs and are responsible don't want to live in black neighborhoods. It is not racist, just how it is.

We have a group of thugs in a house over here everyone watches. I live in a mostly Latino neighborhood, and nobody bothers them but we watch them. They are not very welcome here, meaning we know what kind of people they are. When they sit outside in a group with their underwear hanging out, giving every one "that look." Hell no, no one trusts them. At least they keep their yard clean for now. The black family that lives behind me doesn't like

them either.

Change your title from White Flight because it's not just whites fleeing. Even a lot of blacks hate these people and are ashamed to be involved with them.

This is not a "white flight." This is a "Fleeing from ghetto blacks". Nobody likes those kind of people -- nobody. The liberals who are deflecting excuses of the problem are making all races that want a regular life with no problems sicks.

These people turn every thing to crap. They are a cancer and people are starting to notice the signs of cancer and are being proactive.

No one wants to be around these people because they don't want cancer. To hell with being PC, this is a fact.

Post 62

This is just silly. It is a fact that some people demolish property value. Not because they are black -- there are plenty of black families living in upscale neighborhoods -- they are just people who are not miscreants. If you think we should all be integrated go live in Detroit for a while. It's sad but it's true. You have to keep some people in their own community and out of ours.

Post 61

I have a solution to this problem. I'm a black woman and I'm educated and I have lived in all-white communities, all-black communities and all-Latino communities. I've also lived overseas for many years. I've lived in gated communities and the ghetto. How many people on this forum have lived in all of those locations?

I can say that, with all honesty, the worst places I've ever lived were around all blacks or all whites. Black people are not dangerous, but they are seriously annoying neighbors. (Loud music, house parties, and other nonsense.) White people are also very annoying because they falsely assume that all black people are thugs. That is so ignorant! I'm not a thug, I don't have any

children, I'm not on welfare, and I have more education than the average white person. All of my family members are educated, too.

The best neighbors I've ever had were Latinos and Asians. They aren't racist like white people and they aren't loud and obnoxious like black people.

I'm using extreme language, but I seriously hope that most of the whites and blacks in America, die off as groups of people to make way for Latinos and Asians.

Am I racist? Yes and I don't really care who is offended by this comment.

When whites and blacks die, the world will improve!

I hope that millions of Asians and Latinos emigrate to the US over the next 20 years and outnumber whites and blacks. Good riddance!

Post 58

I totally agree with some of these posts regarding not wanting black neighbors. I moved into this Bay Area city in 1999. Because of the housing market, many people moved out. Now, I have black neighbors on both sides of my house. Right now, there is a very loud swimming party with rap music on one side and on the other really loud rap music and very loud talking. And yep, my house is going up for sale very soon. Who wants to live like this?

I want peace and quiet and respect as I give to my neighbors. But they are totally different people: loud, boisterous,rowdy, inconsiderate and the list goes on. It's not racism - I'm just not like them and I want to find a place where people are like me.

Post 57

Check out Tim Wise's book "White Like Me" and then maybe you people will learn something about yourselves. How about you actually educate yourselves about the real problem instead of griping about being called racist?

Post 56

I'm Native American and I don't want to live next to some people, either. Last Autumn a family of blacks moved in next door to my family. Since then we've had nothing but trouble. They play rap music so loudly it rattles our windows and vibrates off the walls in my house. Their thug children have harassed and physically assaulted not only my younger relatives when they visit, but the other children on the block. My mail box was broken into and any items left out in the front or back yards are immediately stolen.

Attempting to talk to the so-called "adults" in that family is akin to talking to a brick wall. They stare at me stone faced

, assigning everything I say to "hating", as in "Oh he's just hating on us 'cause we're black". Nothing changes. I'll tell you something, I wasn't racist before I finally experienced what it was to live beside these people. Now I definitely am. Nobody who has ever lived beside these kinds of people can be otherwise.
Post 55

Racism is not real. Stop blaming social problems on buzzwords. In nature, critters seek out their own kind in order to survive, and they avoid others. This is a basic instinct, not "racism."

In a civilization, one must suppress some basic instincts in order to get along. When one group does it but the other doesn't, conflict ensues. Don't mystify basic facts with nebulous buzzwords. Whites are generally guilt-ridden and ready to hug the whole world. But alas, when you try to hug people they treat you poorly, but when you are mean you get respect. Also nature.

Most black problems are not caused by whites or by the phantom "racism." Don't bother trying to shame me or give me the tsk, tsk. It won't work. Instead of puritanical moralizing, try to understand nature, social systems, dynamics and economics and drop the religious fashions.

Post 53

"May have the perception that crime rates may be higher?" "Which may or may not be true"? And bookending these delusional statements are two utterances of the old standby, "some people are simply racist."

Are you even trying to use any logical reasoning? Are you kidding? Of course it is true that crime rates are higher in black neighborhoods. But people are "simply racist" to recognize the truth? Instead, they should believe in a fantasy world and allow themselves to be victimized just so we don't hurt other people's feelings. Nonsense.

Post 52

Blame whitey time.

"White flight causes the neighborhoods abandoned to decline..."

It's not the white people's fault. They've seen every other black neighborhood in the world and they know what's coming.

If you know this is coming, please save your family. It's not politically correct but the truth is some people destroy everything they come into contact with.

Post 49

We thought diversity would be good for the children and moved to a mixed area. The kids were harassed at the mostly black schools. They could not learn due to the behavior problems of the other students. There was a drug dealer across the street and no one would do anything about it. Our house was robbed twice in six weeks and the neighbors were the ones that did it.

So I don't want to hear this crap about all whites being prejudiced if they do not want to live with blacks. Our neighbors had no respect for themselves or the neighborhood. Now we live in a white neighborhood, the kids love the schools and we are safe with no crime and nice neighbors who take pride in the area, even if they don't all own the houses they live in.

Post 48

Whites don't want to live with blacks for the reasons the others posted here. We don't give a damn about color. We don't like the immoral and violent behavior, the harassment, being called crackers. We don't like being robbed and threatened. We don't like gangs of black girls resenting our daughter, threatening to cut her face.

Yes, we're leaving. We want to live where people keep their yards nice, clean their windows, don't have pit bulls and where the cops don't have to keep a steady presence.

Post 47

People who call white flight racism and crow the virtues of diversity always live in the whitest part of town.

Post 46

So the home boy living next to me with the gangster car and loud music, the dude across the street with his ten cars and 20 people in one house and the one down the street with his ten dogs and piles of old tires in his yard is my fault for my property going down in value and my community is no longer a middle class?

Maybe it's not race. Maybe it's not having a respect for community standards? Not! You want to live like that, stay out of my community and I will not have to move.

Post 45

A co-worker of mine from some Eastern Europe country moved to Coney Island, Brooklyn, which is 10 percent Russian and 90 percent black. He told me that in his country, they knew that black folks were getting treated badly, only because of their color. He also enjoyed black music (rap) and the tough guy culture.

Well, after he lived there for a year, I asked him how's Coney Island doing for you. He stated that the people were nothing like he expected, and that the endless crime, gun shootings, drugs, baby-mamas, dope-dopes and gangsta life was not the for him. He is a "learned" racist from "practical" experience. He is now trying to move to a white (Russian) neighborhood.

Post 44

It is my belief that white flight is mainly due to racism: the dislike of blacks by whites. It is not just the skin color of blacks -- it's also the hair and facial features. If African Americans had straight hair like the Chinese, there would be racism but not as much. Like one guy posted, can't blacks have real nice neighborhoods of their own without white people living there, and can't they get along without white folks having to be there.

Post 43

White flight had more to do with economics than anything else. The liberals who try to paint it as strictly a racist issue gloss over the evidence without mention. "Middle and upper class whites left the cities and moved to the suburbs, leaving the cities impoverished." People didn't want their taxes being continually raised in urban areas to support the growing welfare state that was being created by people moving into the cities specifically to take advantage of government housing and government handouts. So when those tax-paying people moved to areas with lower taxes, (the suburbs), the people left in the city who were relying on those tax-paying people to support them, became "impoverished." You can add color into the discussion if you want but color had little to do with why some people moved, and why some people became impoverished because of other people moving.

Post 42

The people who label those who move from a dangerous neighborhood as racist are generally those from liberal, but mostly white areas: Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, etc. It is so easy to make judgements about this situation when it is something that you have no first hand knowledge about.

My son, raised in Salt Lake City, moved for work to Illinois. He told me, "Mom, I know that you taught me not to be racist toward anyone, but every day in my job I deal with inner-city blacks whose actions make it very hard for me to live in an unbiased way." I never wanted my children to learn anything but equality for all people.

However, I grew up

in Florida. I have seen the destruction of the lovely neighborhood in which I was raised. It was middle class and neat and tidy. There was a community pool, two churches, and a park.

Now the neighborhood yards are filled with junked cars and groups of people standing in front yards drinking. The churches have been boarded up, the neighborhood pool filled with dirt and padlocked, and the park is used mainly for drug deals.

I do not understand why this must be so. But this story is repeated neighborhood after neighborhood, city after city. Why must the condition of the neighborhood suffer just because the demographics have changed from white to black?

Post 41

Why are good black people leaving the cities? You're telling me they are fleeing the white on white violence, and that's why they move out of the cities into white neighborhoods?

I am telling you, the longer the black community waits to have a serious dialoge on violence,the more innocent black and white children in america are going to suffer.

Post 40

From a Southern white male: There's a lot of crazy stuff on here. Stop being racist - both sides! I attended 90 percent black city public schools in the south in the 80's-90's, and it was a wonderful but challenging experience. White flight started with fear and racism, as whites fled when middle class, hard working law abiding blacks wanted a better life. Then when whites flee for the burbs, there ceases to be enough demand for an area or city and decay sets in, and it declines and then non law-abiding, non hardworking, public assistance receiving people move in - many of whom are black - and thus crime and blight follows.

It's not the color of the skin, people. It's the

economics and the cycle of poverty, teen parents, one parent households, welfare dependence, etc.

Jerks and losers come in all colors. Fellow white people: how well off would you be with jim crow segregation and later, poor parenting and poverty in your everyday life? You would be a criminal too.

Post 39

I'm Hispanic and I don't blame whites for fleeing from blacks. They're dangerous. Blacks almost raped a white friend and my when we stayed at a train station too long, but my boyfriend showed up last minute, thank God! Also, a girl was raped by blacks and ran into my house when we lived in a mixed with black neighborhood. We had to call the cops.

Some blacks shot at other blacks for some stupid reason and the cops had to be called. That is very scary. Etcetera, etc., etc., muggings and more. I hate to say it, but the more racist white people tend to be the smarter ones.

Post 36

I grew up in a white suburban neighborhood, and didn't mind black folks at all. I moved to an all black neighborhood, and it was so loud I couldn't sleep. I heard gunfire at night, people would eat their last handful of fast food french fries and simply drop their bag on my front yard as if that's the normal way to do things.

i learned that while blacks blame whites for leaving, labeling us racist, they also yell white bleep! at my wife and throw rocks at our cars. all i want to do is go to work and pay my taxes, and at night enjoy peace and quiet in my home.

i learned that while i don't hate black people, i just didn't enjoy living among them, and i moved. call me what you want. i work hard at a blue collar job for the quality of life i desire, and i will actively seek it out.

Post 35

From someone who is going through the problem of having to leave my home every day because I can't have peace, because I have neighbors standing on the street all day playing basketball in the middle of the street as if they owned it. Neighborhood kids and their parents are running around the neighborhood like untamed animals, and the loud music that is played with no regard or respect for the neighbors who want to live peacefully, I don't blame the white folks for moving away.

I want so bad to move out of the city myself and I'm black. I'm doing everything in my power to get away!

I understand that the housing in the white upscale neighborhoods and

communities is very expensive and in many cases are overpriced just to keep the bad people out, but I'm not going to blame them for that. I'm going to work my buns off to afford it, but at the same time keep a moral mind and behave myself in a manner so people won't judge or group me by my skin color, but judge me based on my character. Instead of blacks making the "white flight" out to be a complete racist incident, we should be educating ourselves and working to improve our quality of living and our morals. Everything goes back to morals and respect. If you don't have morals or respect, you cannot improve your quality of life, which is why African Americans have lost respect for the neighborhood and cannot improve their quality of life.
Post 31

@anon 36010: Now the push is on for 'regionalization' which will remove governing authority from the local municipalities and place it in the hands of the counties -- a back door way of getting those elusive tax dollars.

Post 29

Too many stupid comments. White industrial nations are the few prosperous inviting countries in the world, yet they're racist? That's the kind of stuff that white people leave places for -- and I'm speaking from experience.

I don't want to leave because of the people's skin, but the content of their character. Some of these jerks claiming constant guilt upon every white person ought to stop reading their brainwashed nonsense.

Frankly, I'd like them to leave the country and all the cool folks from every race could offer so much more.

Post 28

I have nothing against blacks moving into my neighborhood if they do it the right way. When I bought my house I did it with 20 percent down good credit and solid work record.

But when I see blacks who got here because of housing grants and others who rent with section 8 and live like they just got out of the hood, it just isn't right.

I bought a house to get away from that element of society. My once nice street now looks like a housing project and I'm the racist.

Post 27

White people are usually more racist by far, when compared to other groups. This is not due to race, but culture or lack thereof. Asians tend to bring solid traditions to America and most African Americans cope well by using Christianity. I'm speaking generally, of course. There are exceptions.

I see white America suffering from cultural relativism. Without tradition or religion, people tend to turn to nationalism, racial pride, or something else to keep their pack a cohesive group. So, you'll find many white people today using hate against the "others" to bring themselves together.

I'm not a religious person but I see how religion can benefit society and moderate people. I don't think people should stick to their own race but I respect their right to do so. I truly think every person on Earth is a racist. It is natural but it has no place in a civil society. Just keep it to yourself.

Post 26

Its amazing to me how many whites are totally naive on this subject. I hear them say things like, "what difference does a person's skin color make" and "we're all created equal!" What they all have in common is that they've never been exposed to living in a predominately all black neighborhood or had to attend a predominately black school.

I submit that exposure will cure this naivety every time. Take these people and put them in an all black neighborhood or school for several months and see what happens!

Post 25

While the contributing historical factors clearly were racism, white flight is largely fueled by the simple fact that whenever blacks move into a city or town in large numbers, education metrics decrease, crime goes up and property values go down.

Is it racist to leave a suburb that you invested twenty years in once you no longer feel safe and your children cannot get a quality education?

Again, previous generations of whites created this problem years ago with their shameful treatment of blacks during what is commonly called the Jim Crow years -- subjugating them to dirt road villages often with no utility services. Check out the 1964 movie "Nothing But A Man" for a slice of that world.

Blacks had

jobs (not good ones by any means), stable families and dignity. And then the black community was thrown into chaos. Had the root cause been addressed and the blacks of that era simply been given an equal opportunity, they would have made it happen.

Now whites are moving back into cities -- a sort of white flight in reverse.

Post 24

Racism is really a small factor of White flight, although most people who have no judgment would call it racism.

For example, a black family is renting a 500,000 dollar house right next door to us and 50 marijuana plants are now in their backyard. Trashy people are now going to their house to buy drugs, gun shots have been heard and the cops aren't doing a damn thing anymore.

My mother is a teacher and runs a business in her house with children as her students. It is the destructive stereotype which is about 80 percent culture, which is truth, that most whites hate about black people which causes them to leave. Then they go to other cities and bring their liberal ways to the small conservative cities and then when the city they left becomes corrupt then some of the black communities leave and attach themselves to this new liberalized white community.

Post 23

Personally as a black male, I prefer to live around my own people. I do have white friends and work with white people in a majority minority school. The interesting this is that although whites want to live where there is no crime, they do not mind working where the crime is happening.

Post 20

White flight had to do with many things. First, it was the housing boom of the post war era and the interstate highway system allowing settlement in more remote areas.

Second, it was, yes, due in part to racism. As minorities came into the neighborhoods, the ones who settled in the cities much earlier left. They left for a variety of reasons. One was racial desegregation in -- pretty much everywhere. The second had to do with, like some said, crime and wanting to settle in areas that were more 'exclusive' and pricier.

The people here acting as if mobsters didn't exist (Or other criminals of white persuasion) is laughable. I'm seeing a lot of whites playing victim here. Don't get

me wrong, I'm against racism on either side, but its not shocking. Blacks beating up whites? Gee, I wonder why?

In either case, white flight was both racist and economic. People wanted to own a house in a nicer neighborhood. That part is not racist in itself. The racist part is when you can't receive a mortgage simply because you're black. Hell, you have to make a down payment anyway!

Doesn't the ability to make one imply a job and a work ethic? I'm hispanic and live in East NY, and I also want to get away from crime rates. Then again, lol gentrification. Enjoy your boring suburbs.

Post 18

"White flight (at least in the beginning) had everything to do with racism. White people in this country are all about labels."

So first you accuse people of racist, then go on to make a racist statement yourself?

Post 17

Wow the amount of ignorance in response to this post is unbelievable! White flight (at least in the beginning) had everything to do with racism. White people in this country are all about labels. Belonging to the right country club, neighborhood association, school districts etc. is especially important to WASPs trying to enhance their social status.

As the article alludes to, when black families emerge into the middle class bracket, they're all of a sudden become part of the same inner circle as whites. If a black man can become part of the same club as white people, the "label" no longer means anything. In this case perception is everything.

So the first group of whites leaves the neighborhood, and

moves to another all white community. If the perception is that the community is lacking behind and not what it once was, other whites will not move there, thus the property has to be sold to lower class blacks--hence the emergence of the crime rate and the continual withdrawal of whites from the neighborhood (this time with good reason). And the cycle either continues in the next community or white members of the community jack up the prices so that middle class blacks can't buy in.

It's the same reason some white parents send their kids to a private school; not necessarily because the education is that much better but because the prestige of being associated with Saint Benedict Academy is greater than going to Hillstand Public High School, and they can get away not having to support those other kids at the public school. It's all about a label. It's all about a perception. And that is what racism is when you get right down to it.

Post 15

i think it wrong to think this because you are just mean to people that are just like us. and i'm pretty sure that you think that black people are really nice just like us. they are not any different.

Post 14

i think that it is stupid. who cares what color your skin is or what you look like? if i was alive back then i would be like martin luther king jr. thank god for the future.

Post 13

The author wrote:

"The racial segregation caused by white flight also leads to lack of cultural exchange and enrichment."

Apparently one is not allowed to question the necessity of what the author considers "cultural exchange and enrichment". This article not only assumes that one's preference for living in an area that shares common racial identification is something morally wrong, but it also assumes that only "whites" are in need of cultural "exchange and enrichment (whatever that means) -- while simultaneously ignoring the blatant reality that most of the non-white world (which makes up roughly 94 percent of the world population) experiences virtually no ethnic diversity in their own communities.

Perhaps people with this thinking need to realize there is no "right" and "wrong" when it comes to racial preferences and that anyone should be allowed to live with or mingle with whomever they wish.

Post 12

Fascinating how you twice attribute white flight to "racism". And yes non-white crime is quite proven. The Department of Justice compiles crime statistics by race. Go check them out and be educated by our own government.

White flight is increasing rapidly, as we will see in the next few decades. I myself am relocating to a white northern state. I don't want my children going to an underfunded school. who would?

Post 8

Yes, the assumption of this article is that without whites, blacks are incapable of building and sustaining a civilized society. I laughed at the comment about the 'perception' of minority crime.

I find that most whites don't care a thing about skin color. What they object to, indeed what they run from, is anti-social and violent behavior.

Post 7

I was a victim of the so called white flight. In 1977 on the east side of Detroit. To me white, we were the minority. At my school whites accounted for maybe 30 percent of the kids. What the 30 percent went through was hell. We were harassed daily, I was chased any time I got more than a block from my home on my bike -- sometimes by groups of 40 or more. I was chased daily by local gangs that would take anything I had. We could not play baseball without a gang coming to the school and taking all of our equipment. I even had a friend who's puppy was taken by the gang. There is nothing more

humiliating than to have a second grader spit in your face and know because he is a junior member of a gang that if you touch him you die. We left because the prospect of attending high school in Detroit as a white male meant that being stabbed, shot or whatever was reality not a maybe. The violence in my era was aimed at the whites. Now that most of us are gone they aim it at each other. The area I grew up in is destroyed. My block has three houses on it none are lived in. My dad stayed in his home three years after I moved with my mom. He came home to a group of men that stabbed him, robbed him and left him for dead. He moved to Arkansas shortly after. I lost everything -- all of my friends, my neighborhood, most of my childhood. This is not racism; it was life or death. That's why we went to the suburbs.
Post 6

Why do African-Americans call white flight racism? Are they saying that they cannot have a successful prosperous city unless whitey is there? Perhaps Blacks as a whole should ask themselves *why* white folks leave when neighborhoods Black folks start moving in.

Post 5

White flight is not due to racism or a perception of higher crime. Whites leave areas with large minority populations because their quality of life improves. Higher crime correlates directly with an increasing black population. The statistics are readily available online. This is not a perception. In violent interracial crimes between blacks and whites, the white person is the victim 85% of the time. Black on white rapes occur 140 to 1 compared to vice versa. Areas with large minority populations also see an increased demand for social services. This leads to higher taxes, which drive out businesses and individuals.

There are many social and economic reasons for these problems. However, they are real. Otherwise whites would not choose to bear the expense and inconvenience of moving.

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