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I know this flies in the face of the "PC race card," but, in reality, when people behave like everyone else, they are treated like everyone else. In this respect, I question whether 'white flight' is about either "financial "status" or color.
I think it is more of a reaction to a stereotypical fear that area housing will not be maintained and will lose value -- or that drugs and 'gang-bangers' will overtake the area.
While some may declare this racism or racial profiling, the stark image of black, inner-city neighborhoods (from which 'black flight' occurs) speaks for itself.
You're talking about poor minority neighborhoods. Not every minority lives in Dodge City. Martha's Vineyard has a sizable Black population, and those people are very well off. Equating minorities with the ghetto is no different than equating Whites with Appalachia and other poor rural areas.
No, depending on where you're at "white flight" is very real still. At least it is in the Chicagoland/NW Indiana area!
I was taking graduate classes in 2003 at Purdue Calumet and a professor said lake county was the second most segregated county in America. Not sure how it is now but I was really surprised.
My friend's parents bought a house in a nice area that was predominantly white back in the 80s. Over the years, it turned into a pretty rough area, and also turned into a predominantly Hispanic and black area. Pretty much school ratings went straight down and crime rates went straight up.
By the way, I'm not white, so don't even think about accusing me of being a racist.
I was riding a cab in DC, and the driver was black. We drove through a nice street with brick houses. On every porch, in the middle of a work day, was sitting a family with a big Mama in the middle. The driver turned his ebony-black head to me and said with sensible disgust "These N..gg..s aren't doing nothing all day long! Lazy bastards!" and he went on and on. I was a newcomer, so was unaware of details of racial relationships in the US, so I kept quiet, but laughed so hard after I left the cab!
White flight totally happened in my neighborhood. Some remain, usually the ones that are old, but the school system is down to about 3% White. I think some left because they couldn't compete when the economy lost its manufacturing entities. Some left as the area amenities began to change. But, for whatever reason, the Whites have abandoned the area.
School scores have been rising, average family income keeps tracking further into six figures, home prices are shooting through the roof. You can read a lot of people complain here on CD about how high the COL has gotten. Now that mass transit has arrived and Apple is putting a campus here it's only going to go further.
Once upon a time in other segregated areas of the country, being White meant you'd received the best education, had the most money and had the best job prospects. Not to mention, ahh gee, all the faculties were built for a White neighborhood. So if someplace can support your culture, religion, consumption and pay you a higher relative wage etc. and that is rare for a group to find, expect a lot of that group of people. Race is no longer symbolizes this. Hence in my neighborhood, the gentrification kicked out all of the poorer White natives, and others followed suit when the amenities of the area started to be more geared for different incoming cultures. Why do LGBT communities spring up where they do? Why to communities grow ever more red or blue politically? Why are ethnic enclaves in most cities still starting points for many immigrants?
There needs to be enough commonality between people in order to support neighborhood amenities. Amenities in turn become self reinforcing for the type of people attracted to an area.
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