4 ms·
> Orrrrr a good amount of racism lead to a great White Flight That's reductionist and possibly even causally reversed, like saying bad yelp reviews are the rea
by simonsarris 9y ago
> Orrrrr a good amount of racism lead to a great White Flight
That's reductionist and possibly even causally reversed, like saying bad yelp reviews are the reason a restaurant closed.
Rates of crime increased 600% (robbery) [1] in America overall during the 1960-1980. That's enormous. The increase in crime was mostly in urban areas, not rural, so there was even more than an 600% increase in some areas. This was well before Reagan's and Clinton's strategy of mass incarceration.
It's deeply unfair to suggest that a family - of any race - that decides to move to the relatively affordable, calm suburbs, where they can own a full home and have a backyard, and avoid the massive increase in crime - was due to "a good amount of racism" as the primary reason.
If your neighborhood violence increased by more than 600% over the span of 10 years, and you were having kids, you might just decided to move somewhere else, no?
[1] http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
- deong 9y agoI think that's conflating different forms of racism. There's no denying that the modern suburbs was in very large part a racist development. That doesn't mean anyone who took part in that development had racist intents. As you say, it's a perfectly logical decision to move one's family to the suburbs. That doesn't contradict the fact that the opportunity for you to do so was the product of racism, even if it was someone else's racism. The Levittown/redlining/white flight/whatever was already well underway by the 60s. Yes, crime increased in urban areas up through the 80s, but some of that is best explained by those urban areas being essentially economically abandoned by that time. Crime follows poverty, and when the tax money leaves, the result is fairly predictable.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- liveoneggs 9y agoI have spoken directly with a few people who left their southern in town neighborhood (still houses with yards etc) in the early 70's because they did not like the way black people behaved after civil rights in the 60's. Not sure if that counts for you as racism but there it is.
- Danihan 9y agoDepends if "behaved" means, "being too successful" or "being too thuggish / criminal". If it's the latter, of course most people want to live in a nice neighborhood, not a crime den.
- TheAdamAndChe 9y agoDo keep in mind that your statement is merely an anecdote. You might be right, but it's dangerous to assume that the people you talked to represent the majority of people who left for the suburbs.