The Patriot Post® · 'White Flight' Is Out, 'White Fortressing' Is In

With one American city after another being buffeted by political corruption, unchecked illegal immigration, financial mismanagement, violent crime, homelessness, and drug use, it’s no wonder so many people are leaving.

The exodus is not unlike the movement of people from cities to suburbs back in the 1960s. Back then, it was called “white flight,” but people forget that blacks who could afford to get out of those cities also packed their bags in search of a better life. Today, a similar phenomenon is taking place, and just like in the 1960s, instead of solving the problems in our cities, our so-called leaders are playing the race card.

“For years we’ve had to deal with our race-obsessed left-wing betters talking about ‘white flight,’ which is the term they use to describe any instance of a white family leaving a dysfunctional city center in favor of better environs,” reports Not the Bee. “It’s one of those catch-all terms that smug academics use in place of real debate.”

The new term is called “white fortressing,” but it’s just another name for the same concept. In other words, the accusation is that white people are leaving cities because they don’t want to live with black people.

Nonsense. People of all colors and creeds have always aspired to live in nice communities with safe streets, quality education, good-paying jobs, and abundant resources. That’s what the people living near Louisiana’s East Baton Rouge Parish want, and that’s why they’re creating a new community called St. George.

According to St. George’s town website: “The area which would be incorporated as St. George is not in the city of Baton Rouge. It is in an unincorporated area of East Baton Rouge Parish. The two are not the same. It is true that we have a city-parish (consolidated) form of government in East Baton Rouge Parish, and it’s true that taxes collected in what would become St. George make up a significant portion of East Baton Rouge Parish revenues.”

They add: “That said, St. George would still utilize — and pay for — services offered by the East Baton Rouge Parish government, just like Baker, Zachary and Central do. The services not contracted for with East Baton Rouge Parish will not have to be provided to St. George. That means East Baton Rouge Parish’s expenses will be reduced. Furthermore, St. George will embark upon a pro-growth, pro-private sector agenda. This is the same agenda which is leading to rapid economic expansion in neighboring parishes at the expense of East Baton Rouge Parish.”

In other words, the political and community leaders of East Baton Rouge Parish could have adopted policies and implemented strategies to improve the city, but they chose power over progress. They want a minority of people to pay for city services and programs but deny those same people a safe community in which to live. They could have revitalized the city from within, but apparently, that’s too much to ask.

Instead of admitting what’s really happening, it’s all too easy to brand others as racists, broadly condemning people for wanting a better life. In reality, where people choose to live rarely has to do with the racial makeup of their neighbors. That’s why so many black Americans are also fleeing cities. Like other racial and ethnic groups, they want good schools, good jobs, and safety.

Back in 2015, the Brookings Institution reported: “Thirteen of the 20 cities with largest black populations (including nine of the 10 largest) registered declines in their black populations from 2000 to 2010. Among central cities of the 100 largest metropolitan areas 33 experienced declines in their black populations, and 68 showed either first-time losses, larger losses, or smaller gains among blacks than in the 1990s. Clearly, the black urban presence, which has been the mainstay of many large cities, is diminishing.”

We’re witnessing a reversal of the Great Migration, which brought millions of blacks from the rural South to the booming Northern cities in search of jobs. Like their white counterparts, blacks are looking for opportunities.

“Departing residents,” reports The Wall Street Journal, “are heading everywhere from nearby suburbs to high-growth areas in the southern U.S., such as metro Atlanta, according to demographers, real-estate agents and public officials. The latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates, released Thursday, indicate Black residents are continuing to leave many urban centers in the North and elsewhere, adding to decades of decline. These losses have hit many major cities with historically large Black populations, including Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Oakland, Calif.”

The effort to make everything about race is ridiculous, and it’s not helping those who really experience discrimination. If there’s any truth to the idea that whites and blacks self-segregate, it’s largely because of leftists fomenting racial division.

The bad news is that constantly crying “Racist!” will not feed one impoverished child in East Baton Rouge Parish or any other American city. It will not teach anyone how to read or write, train someone in a new skill, or provide a safe place to live.

The good news is that the problems in many of these cities could be fixed if the people who claim to care about the downtrodden stopped looking the other way and calling others racist for seeking to improve their lot in life.