Sensitive Racial Question...white flight?

Question

I'd like to get your thought on this...I don't know quite what to think.

We were in another neighbor in the 1970's..it was nearly 100% white. Typical middle-class neighborhood. A neighbor moved out and the house was rented out to a black family..then another sold and purchased by a black family. Well then the signs started popping up every where..on our street we lost about 14 neighbors in a matter of a few Months..some had been there for years. Home prices were dropping like crazy and the neighborhood did go down hill over night. Suddenly the sound of police sirens were common place and it was no longer safe for my two daughters..so we moved, we were the last to leave. We moved in our brand new home in 1977...now it's just started here all over again. I am not prejudice..but I just got my hear full of rap music this morning.

Any advise...3 signs went up this past week!

Answer 1

I grew up in detroit.

we had a mayor in the 70s (and 80s) who said "this is a black city, I don't want to see any white people below 8 mile"

So the white folks moved out, and created the sprawling suburbs. The whites were ASKED to leave.


I do NOT agree that having black neighbors ruins your property value, i do NOT agree with this racial stereotype, or the assumption that black families are ruining your neighborhood.

This phenomenon is called "urban sprawl" and it's not about the color of anyone's skin. What it IS about is that cities are becoming empty and people are forced to move away, as there are no jobs left (especially in Detroit). If you had really been watching the market - the hsouing values started dropping BEFORE your "new" neighbors moved in. You just attributed it to their presence, which is wrong.

The loss of value in the neighborhood has more to do with jobs moving to other areas, and people leaving because there is no work. If you really look closer, THIS is the reason for flight, it has nothing to do with the color of anyone's skin.

Answer 2

My views have changed on this subject over the years. In the past I would have called you a racist for selling your home. I've always thought of myself being opened minded and tolerant of others. I live in a nice neighborhood that is primarily white, with a of low crime. A couple years ago, the city approved low income condos and housing blocks from our neighborhood.

The change in our area has been drastic! We actually have bums walking down the street pushing shopping carts for transporting their goods. Litter and garbage is strewn across our roads and side streets. "Booming cars" drive past our house at all hours of the night and crime has risen immensely. Our community is starting to suffer and I fear our house will depreciate if we don't sell.

I know that MOST blacks don't live this way and also want clean crime free neighborhoods. It is a perfect example where the actions of a few can ruin it for a group.

I think it's unfair for some to label this man a racist for expressing his life experience. I've read his question again, and I'm not seeing any hatred, but merely something that has happened in his neighborhood.

Answer 3

If the people that are moving in are dangerous, go ahead and move... If they're just of a different culture, don't... My old neighborhood went from white to mixed (white/black/asian/etc) just fine... No real problems just new and interesting people... Then, years later, Bosnians started to move in and take over (literally) the neighborhood... Car accidents went up; also violence towards women... So many came that they started to let them rename the streets! Anyway, it became a flight all right but not white flight... It was all but Bosnian flight... Nothing anyone could do when local government turned a blind eye... Now all my old neighbors are all over including me... The area got so dangerous that my (sickly) parents who I was caring for had to sell or lose everything... My advice, do what you have to to keep your family safe and screw anyone who tries to stop you!

Answer 4

and i bet all u do is peek out your window and call the cops unnecessarily........keep moving because you are a coward. a bad neighborhood is a bad neighborhood...whether its black populated or not...i think u are prejudice, but you know what.. as you can see from your responses a lot of white people feel the same way you do...because u are suppressors and fearful...why cant a decent black family move to area that is not predominately black..and all of a sudden there is a decrease in property value..perhaps if u worked on maintaining good relations with all your neighbors, you can all help your community.

so stereotypical....

Answer 5

What state are you from? What city? If you are that worried, maybe you should move. People move, that is all there is to it. It isn't just a question about race, it is a question about social standing and money. If you live in an area of lesser value, you will get neighbors with less money. The less income you make, the more "hectic" things get......you get me? I'm sorry you feel this way, but, that is just how things are. I suggest you start getting to know your neighbors and stuff. You are being racist and stereotypical. Who cares what they are, try making friends with them and maybe you can come to understand each other, for instance maybe they don't like your music anymore than you like thiers, so, both of you can agree to keep it down? Stop being so negative, if it just bothers you that much, move to the country where you have no neighbors....

Answer 6

If you like the neighborhood stay. I've lived in interracial neighborhoods and I actually can't tell the difference from being in all caucasian neighborhoods. Some people are good neighbors regardless of their ethnicity.

Answer 7

I'm going to guess that what happens/happened is that for some stupid reason or other people in your neighborhood got scared just because someone moved in that looked different from them, eventually leading to the mass exodus of your neighbors which caused the rapid decrease in home prices which then made the homes much more affordable for the bad elements, white/black/yellow/etc. to move in.

Sorry, but my belief is that you are prejudice, plain and simple. If you don't like it move, go into total seclusion out in the middle of nowhere if you must. But think about it...once people starting moving out in rapid succession, obviously people are thinking something's up causing prices to drop because no one wants to live there making it affordable for those you don't want to live there in the first place to move in. Is it possible that if people hadn't fled as they did, it wouldn't have turned out the same?

Hmm...and btw, I'm a white chick, college educated, in my 30s, no kids, never married, etc., nor am I white trash, but I do like my rap music...along with just about every other type of music including classical...and whatever I listen to, I listen to loud.

Answer 8

if you dont want to move i would say start a neighborhood watch i live on a really bad street to crack house a few houses down and we have just been keeping track of who comes and goes and in the 6 months i have lived here the amount of traffic has slowed good luck

Answer 9

Hmmmmm Do you think rich white movie stars worry about rappers moving into their neighborhoods and leave? No. Its sad middle class white people don't know how to open up their community to other races. I will make sure if I own a home it is very mixed neighborhood and not all white so I don't get judged.

Answer 10

It's NOT actually racial, it is cultural. I lived in a mixed neighborhood for most of my pre-adolescent years and there was none of that crap. Of course, it was not a big city. Now I live in an even smaller town, which is still racially diverse, and the problem is with the "white trash," not black, Hispanics or others. BUTT HEADS know no racial boundaries.