Is White Flight Right? (Detroit, Atlanta: houses, rent, income)

[and the]

Plueeesssee, are you being just a bit thin skinned or maybe "Holier than thou"? I think, what Mr248 was trying to say is the same thing I said in my last post. Culturally we, meaning the races, are different. And yes, sometimes our differences are preceived by the opposite race as faults.

Whether you will admit it or not, I am sure that you have looked at a race that is not your own with a some degree of condemnation, and lumped that entire race into that opinion.

Nope, I don't think I'm being holier than thou, certainly not thin skinned. It's just a pet peeve of mine. I think I'm pretty good about thinking along individual lines or class lines as opposed to thinking that "blacks" share any more values or vices among the whole race than "whites" do, based on their race alone. I don't even like hearing "white" people assume a spokesman role for various ethinic (non racial) groups, such as: "The Polish Community", the "Arab Community", "Italian Community", etc. Everytime I hear someone speaking as a non-elected spokesperson for various "communities", I cringe.

The "gay community" is a good one too. "Roll up the windows honey, we're entering the GAY community!"

[M TYPE X]

Did '248' give up his data collection? Why doesn't he drive up and down Telegraph Road, with all the people throwing food wrappers, chewing tobacco, etc out of their car windows? It's disgusting. A large number are Black, which is not surprising because Southfield has many Black people! Some offenders are Hispanic and others very white. It doesn't matter ... Telegraph and Southfield are merely points on the metro Detroit map, and no one is obligated to deal with bad drivers and nonexistent customer service.

[tuebor]

Related thread:
Race relations in Michigan

[jfre81]

I live in Houston in an apartment complex where my fiancee and I are the only white couple in the building. There seem to be a couple other single white dudes living here but it is mostly black. Got no problems or complaints. It's not "ghetto." It's a gated community that gives everyone who moves in criminal background checks - and as best I can tell it's run by blacks too. Having lived in the mostly-white outskirts of Raleigh, NC with a bunch of tweeker hillbillies going around high on meth and hooting and hollering all night, it's a welcome change.

This isn't about Detroit, but all the same it's a refutation of how people stereotype places that are mostly black.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by jfre81

This isn't about Detroit, but all the same it's a refutation of how people stereotype places that are mostly black.

The South is a historical home of many Blacks, and the economy isn't doing so poorly compared to decayed northern industrial cities. Thus, it's not surprising that there do exist (in some quantity, to an extent) healthy Black majority communities in the South.

[Harry Henkel]

I was born and raised as a Detroiter but did not realize what racism was until I went into the ARMY back in 71-72. I went from a stone cold naive city boy to a stone cold dis-believer in people who just want to be martyrs or victims for whatever their reason. The ARMY taught me respect and pride . Coming back to Michigan I realized there are people who just need a reason and want to hate others. Kinda sad isn't it. Would I ever go back to Detroit? Well the neighborhood my folks grew up in is now a dalipidated crack neighborhood. Half the house's are empty or just shacks. I have been gone for over 35 years now living in one of the most diverse areas in the country and love every minute of it. When I have to go back to the city I once took great pride in now just really saddens me. Detroit just doesn't get it - once did and by the way its going never will again.
It just makes me very,very,very sad. You just don't realize how bad it is there until you go away and come back. I really miss the ' ole ' Detroit when the name MOTORCITY meant something. People outside still refer to it as the ' murder capital '. The racism by everyone out there takes a machete to cut through it. And my relatives still out there just can't understand why I don't come back home.
by the way I found this site looking for city stats and realized a city in Michigan with 670 people per square mile has 2X the crime rate of the city I live in that has over 6000 people per square mile. We may be all nuts in LA but we are much safer. ! Great site by the way!

[Harry Henkel]

After reading the many replys I feel compelled to speak again... When Henry Ford offered $5 bucks a day to come work for his company many,many blacks left the South to come North. Why anyone would want to live in the south is beyound me! Why anyone would want to live in the Detroit area is even more beyound belief. Hooting and hollaring rednecks ... come visit my old neighborhood. welfare trash ! come visit my old neighborhood - we do not have a shortage of any of your biases. We got them all in Warren. Why those transient Detroiters want to come live in this neighborhood with these people is REALLY beyound belief. I am glad I found a new life without all this drama.

[Chinolala]

Originally Posted by CHICAGOLAND92

You're lumping black people in to a large group of people, so I don't get the point of your post.


Some places try to maintain a family environment. However, rap music and the media don't exactly help. Nonetheless, some people just don't have money to move into better communities for their children. You act like every black majority area is crime-ridden and filled with drugs, and has no care for education.

Blacks are moving out of Detroit...did that ever occur to you that's why the city population is decreasing? Blacks are moving into white suburbs. However, when they do, many people already living in the area get scared and put their houses up for sale.

Do some research before you make extremely ignorant and biased posts..


Anyways, back to the original topic. I do not think white flight is right. As a matter of fact, I think Black Flight is wrong too. I do, however, think people should try and fix the problem instead of running away from it.

I agree with most of this. I am white and live in an area that is mainly white and Mexican. However, across the street for me, is a different neighborhood. I am on the border of that neighborhood. The neighborhood across the street is wealthy. It's an old established area with homes that start around $800k and into the millions. My doctor (an African American), lives in that neighborhood, as do other African Americans that are wealthy. And I LOVE driving through that neighborhood and seeing black families playing with their kids outside in front of their expansive homes with turnaround driveways and Jags, Porches and Mercedes on their driveways.

My neighborhood is middle class and not wealthy like the one across the street. We have a handful of blacks that have moved in. More than 1 resident of my neighbhorhood has told me that because there are now a handful of blacks, they're seriously thinking of moving. So it seems to me, that blacks can't "win". Society says that they want them to succeed, to hold down jobs, do well and purchase their own homes. BUT they don't want them to move into their neighborhoods - unless their an NFL player or ballplayer - then they're okay. No one in South Barrington, IL batted an eye when Walter Payton moved in. It seems that the wealthy don't engage in white flight. They are okay living amongst anyone that is as wealthy of themselves. But the middle class doesn't prescribe to this thinking and it's a shame. It's ignorant and bigoted. If a black family can afford to live next door to you, welcome them and deal with it.

[deslok]

White and black flight is/was wrong. Look at the decayed buildings of Detroit now days. A giant city brought down to almost ruins. A lot has to do with the riots, I know that is why my family left Detroit. Perhaps neighborhood awareness, social gatherings, common agreed upon rules to abide by would help?
Obviously everyone's family is different. But by having neighborhoods look at social and beahvioral problems together, they can all agree to hold any unacceptable behaving people accountable.
I think you will see more white and black , educated people wanting to move to Detroit. Frankly most young folks are just sick of having to move to Chicago to have someplace cool to be. If jobs are available, you will see it grow, and with it will die out a lot of the racial divides that exist between the ignorant baby boomer generation.

[conefer]

Originally Posted by willy1979

I am new to the forum and this conversation caught my attention. I will give my personal belief and then what I know to be true from my experience. The crime rate between white and blacks does not differ as much as the media and society would like you to believe. It is just that white are great pretenders. This have been instilled in us from birth. We like to envision the world around us as perfect if we are in an all white atmosphere. But the truth is that we do get away with more because we are not watched as closely as blacks. We have in our homes abuse, physically, sexually, and emotionally. We steal, lie (boy do we lie), cheat on our wives, create children out of wedlock( we just abort them). The truth is by staying in our little space it allow us to keep the image that we are better. If we are caught committing a crime we are forgiven for it by our white friends (favors) and we walk around as if nothing ever happened and we can go on to provide for our wives and we go on pretending until the day we die. I speak this from the things that I have seen and experienced. I would love to see someone else be this honest. I believe if we stop pretending for just a little why that our life is sooo much better that others. This country will be a better place.

i agree with you, and i know from experience how things are. i am a white woman married to a black man for over a decade now. i don't know about detroit, but i do know this world. i may not have seen it completely, had i not married a blk man or had children that i walk with and see people judging me. he and i have both been spoken to re; each other. blk ppl havent liked it and white ppl havent like it. i think it depends on the area you live in and the age group u live around also. you have to for your sanity ignore some, but it is the way it is. and i agree with you about hand out to white friends to cover for them or hook them up. even with my family who do not have a problem with us but they dont want to hear what my husband has to go through at work and what not re racism, after u complain or tell the story it now looks as if u r the trouble maker, when in fact it is a daily thing in this world. we all judge each other it goes to that one movie,crash. whether its color, shape, religion, age whatever we are all on the defense and judge. it is sad, but its the world we live in, and until we open our eyes and get humble and honest it will not change.