If White Flight Never Happened... (Atlanta, Martin: crime rate, loans, new home)

[AcidSnake]

Actually, Montana is better suited for guys like that. Portland is a bit too progressive for his ilk.

Originally Posted by erick295

With comments like this I'm assuming you're just trolling like you do in most of your other racist posts but if you really do have such a problem with black people then why in the world do you live in a city that's mostly black? Go to Portland or something and spare us your intolerance

[Atlantasfinest]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

Didn't you know? The "hood rats" are totally to blame! All of the scared sheep who abandoned their neighborhoods and their city were simply victims!

I very much place at least part of the blame on people like my parents...at the first sign of trouble (back in 1973), they sold their house in the city and fled to the outer burbs. Granted, it's easy to have 20/20 hindsight, but I still think that people should have stayed and fought for their homes and neighborhoods rather than running away. Too many white people were afraid of black people during that time.

Thanks for sharing DeaconJ...I would be interested to know how you felt at the time of the move and what area your parents moved from. Coming from California in 1998 I haven't had a chance to meet people (White people specifically who grew up in that time period) with your story and experience so I would be interested on hearing about it since you seem very forthcoming and honest on this forum. Thanksl

[mdiggs1]

Originally Posted by erick295

With comments like this I'm assuming you're just trolling like you do in most of your other racist posts but if you really do have such a problem with black people then why in the world do you live in a city that's mostly black? Go to Portland or something and spare us your intolerance

The best metro areas in the country are filled with blacks. You can't have it your way all the time; you have to make some concessions.

[mdiggs1]

If white flight never occurred the middle class whites and blacks would live closer to the city center, and the poor blacks and whites would live out in the suburbs.

[johnatl]

Originally Posted by Atlantasfinest

Thanks for sharing DeaconJ...I would be interested to know how you felt at the time of the move and what area your parents moved from. Coming from California in 1998 I haven't had a chance to meet people with your story and experience so I would be interested on hearing about it. Thanksl

It's not really the same as Deacons family, but I remember some things from a little earlier.

We lived here for 18 months in '67-'68. My Dad got transferred every 18 months to four years when we were growing up. Atlanta was a stop between Charlotte and Florida for us.

Anyway, we lived here through the very tumultuous year of '68, the year we lost MLK and Bobby Kennedy. One thing I do remember is that this was the only big city in the country that didn't flare up into riots after Martin was assassinated. BUT, '68 seems to also be the year when white flight really kicked in to hyperdrive in cities all over the country.

We lived in what at that time was considered to be the far fringe of the East Metro, at the intersection of 285 & U.S. 78 - LOL!

Anyway, the people that bought our house were a sweet elderly couple "fleeing" Candler Park. The block-busting realtors had them and their neighors absolutely terrified of the "impending wave", as they told my Mom. Funny to think how that particular neighorhood has basically gone full circle since then, but of course it is now very integrated.

I blame many of the realtors of that time for fanning the flames of fear.

Would we be a different city if white flight never happened? Maybe, maybe not. Atlanta already had a very significant black population back then. I honestly think the massive freeway construction and wholesale clearing of neighborhoods under the guise of "urban renewal" did just as much, if not more to change the city - white flight or not.

Just my personal take.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by Atlantasfinest

Thanks for sharing DeaconJ...I would be interested to know how you felt at the time of the move and what area your parents moved from. Coming from California in 1998 I haven't had a chance to meet people (White people specifically who grew up in that time period) with your story and experience so I would be interested on hearing about it since you seem very forthcoming and honest on this forum. Thanksl

Sure...I was in the 2nd grade at the time, so I didn't really understand why we were moving. All I knew was that at the new place there was enough land for me to have a horse!!!

It was actually in Winston-Salem, N.C. The neighborhood that we moved away from is still a very nice middle class area in 2009. It was in the city but not exactly inner-city, but close enough to the action to feel some of the effects of what was going on at the time: riots, rising crime, forced busing and integration in the schools, etc. My sister was in high school, and a stabbing incident on her bus was the last straw for my parents.

It's hard to blame them because they were just concerned for the well-being of their children, but they were also not used to being around many black people so there was an element of racism involved. A lot has changed and they are very different people now (they are 70 yrs old), but my mom told me once that when she was growing up she was scared of black people because she didn't know any better...and that fear spilled over into her adult life until she was forced to change with the times.

So...I think a lot of racism from that era and the "white flight" phenomenon was due to ignorance more than anything. It took radical political and social change to educate people and really bring them together.

[DeaconJ]

An addendum to my essay ...Winston-Salem is very much like a smaller Atlanta. The racial make-up is similar and self-segregated neighborhoods are very common. The west side of the city is/was mostly white, while the east side (East Winston) is/was traditionally black - very much like the north and south Atlanta. I think Winston-Salem possibly had more racial problems than Atlanta.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by johnatl

It's not really the same as Deacons family, but I remember some things from a little earlier.

We lived here for 18 months in '67-'68. My Dad got transferred every 18 months to four years when we were growing up. Atlanta was a stop between Charlotte and Florida for us.

Anyway, we lived here through the very tumultuous year of '68, the year we lost MLK and Bobby Kennedy. One thing I do remember is that this was the only big city in the country that didn't flare up into riots after Martin was assassinated. BUT, '68 seems to also be the year when white flight really kicked in to hyperdrive in cities all over the country.

We lived in what at that time was considered to be the far fringe of the East Metro, at the intersection of 285 & U.S. 78 - LOL!

Anyway, the people that bought our house were a sweet elderly couple "fleeing" Candler Park. The block-busting realtors had them and their neighors absolutely terrified of the "impending wave", as they told my Mom. Funny to think how that particular neighorhood has basically gone full circle since then, but of course it is now very integrated.

I blame many of the realtors of that time for fanning the flames of fear.

Would we be a different city if white flight never happened? Maybe, maybe not. Atlanta already had a very significant black population back then. I honestly think the massive freeway construction and wholesale clearing of neighborhoods under the guise of "urban renewal" did just as much, if not more to change the city - white flight or not.

Just my personal take.

Wow, '68 was a very tumultous year. What a time to move to Atlanta!

You must be a little older than I am.

[johnatl]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

Wow, '68 was a very tumultous year. What a time to move to Atlanta!

You must be a little older than I am.

I am.......but just a little. I was in 6th grade at the time.

[TheseGoTo11]

Originally Posted by equinox63

Hypothetically speaking, how would Atlanta be different today if white flight had never happened?

look at Portland, they never had white flight, people there still send their kids to city schools, and there's a vibrant downtown

but most people (of all races) there still want single family homes, and will move a good distance to get one they can afford, whether they're black, Vietnamese, white, or otherwise

can also point to places like Charlotte, and the Raleigh/Durham area where white flight wasn't as pronounced because they were less populated in the 60s and 70s, yet people still want single family homes

white flight was really just an acceleration of a trend that started in the 20s with cars, Atlanta would probably be just as sprawling today, although there might be more white people in the south suburbs, either way have a hard time believing lifestyles now would be all that different