Re: @bgbg4us #8, @Lehigh22 #15, @Midwest67 #19
Note that the study referred to the article linked in post #0 was about “white flight” from neighborhoods that did not have the confounding variables of poverty, crime, declining local economy, etc. that many people (of any race) often want to flee from (as mentioned in replies #8, #15, #19). The examples from @ProfessorPlum168 reply #1 are of this type, where the white population shrank dramatically as the SES level and housing prices went up.
People want to live near others who are like them. This has to do with education, values, and behavior. Whites, Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics are in our neighborhood because they want their kids in this top school district, and they share a “suburban culture”–which is mostly about conformity. If you can follow all the HOA rules (which some might find oppressive) you can fit in!
People who are selling are mostly white. Now that their kids are grown, they no longer want to maintain the big house and yard or pay high taxes. Many move into condos downtown for quick access to events/amenities. When my kids are out of school, l plan to move farther out into the country because I prefer more green space and quiet. I don’t know if these types of moves are classified as “white flight.” If they are, that gives the wrong impression. Yes, the neighborhood is becoming more diverse–especially more Indian and Chinese. I’d call it Boomer retirement/downsizing and demographic change, not “white flight.”
Another example of this was talked about extensively a year ago in another thread:
https://psmag.com/news/ghosts-of-white-people-past-witnessing-white-flight-from-an-asian-ethnoburb
https://psmag.com/news/ghosts-of-white-people-past-witnessing-white-flight-from-an-asian-ethnoburb
The “model minority” is still “other”, especially if they become the healthy majority in school districts which were once predominantly white. That’s when Asians stop being the convenient bludgeon used to shame blacks and Latinos (and sited as proof that racism is only a card pulled by the same so as to avoid pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps), and morph into monolithic, grade grubbing, self-segregating, STEM automatons who exert unfair competition against wholesome All-American kids seeking more balanced forms of success. I saw the trailer to this movie decades ago.
Is this a problem?
If “this” means “white flight”, it is a symptom of a rather significant level of racism among white people, which many people do consider to be a problem.
^^^ So conversely, if other races are fleeing to white areas they are racists against themselves.
Maybe people just like to hang out and live near those who hold similar habits, behaviors and cultural norms.
Yes, people of other races can be racist, and people of any race can be racist against their own race (example of at least the possibility of both: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21330101/#Comment_21330101 third paragraph).
But is there evidence of what you are claiming about migration patterns existing, in the absence of other confounding “neighborhood quality” differences (local job market, crime, SES levels, etc.) that people otherwise choose neighborhoods for?
Our school system has changed significantly over the past 20 years. My sons’ schools were roughly 25% each white, black, Hispanic and Asian. They gotta to college and were shocked at the lack of diversity. To the extent that there’s flight, it’s socioeconomic – housing prices are prohibitive for young families.
I like my neighbors and friends really based on how they treat my family, me and others. Melanin differences or background play zero part in this calculus.
I do like diversity of cultures for food and generally interesting conversations.
Also there’s a lot of different types of people considered white that aren’t in the least bit the same culturally. Are Greeks Romanians Portuguese Armenians Eastern European Jewish and Irish all the same? They add a bit of diversity within the broader definition.
I don’t think it’s a thing. Really. People move for jobs, love interests, family connections and desire for change. For other ethnic groups I believe there is a bit of residential grouping for language, culture and connections.
And if someone moves from my area because of a racial mix of neighbors. Good riddance, they wouldn’t have passed my initial test mentioned above anyway.