White flight is a fact. The liberals use it as a cop out phrase, but they caused it. And to some extent we are in a “chicken and egg” argument here.
Yes, Coleman Young’s socialist policies drove businesses out of Detroit, but they were by and large white businesses. Therefore, white flight. He gained power because a significant number of black voters put him there. The significant number of black voters had been growing during the 1950s and 1960s, but reached a critical mass after the riots of 1967.
So I argue that Young didn’t cause white flight, he was it’s beneficiary and his policies that did not suppress crime and saw deteriorating schools only hastened an already ongoing process. Where the liberals have their say is the allegation that white flight is caused by blacks in their neighborhoods, as an indictment of white racism. That is the liberal cop out. White flight is, in reality, caused by two things: High crime and poor schools. People who want to work for a better life for themselves and their kids will not stay in a community where there is high crime and the schools are bad. That applies to both black and white people, just like your neighbor’s bakery. Lots of blacks live just fine in the suburbs, and they are here for the same reasons white people are.
So I will concede this point that it should not be called “white flight,” and won’t use the phrase any more. It should be called “affluent flight” or “productive flight.” People are free to draw whatever conclusions they wish from the demographics of the phenomenon.
You say “White flight is a fact.” And then in the same post you say “... it should not be called ‘white flight,’ and won’t use the phrase any more.”
That’s exactly what Political Correctness is, the abandoning of a factual term of speech because you’ve, supposedly, upset someone else. Of course, because you’re terminology is, indeed, factual, the persons upset always have an ulterior motive for getting you to abandon the factual term.
Take “illegal aliens.” It’s a factual statement but rubs liberals (and illegals) the wrong way, so we’re all supposed to say “undocumented workers” now, as in “well, they work; they just haven’t got their documents...yet.” Both are factual, but one emphasizes illegality; the other emphasizes work.
Granted, the person using the terms “white flight” or “illegal alien” might have an agenda, but more likely they are stating a fact as fact, and others with an agenda find that fact inconvenient, or outright damaging to their cause and so bring the “political correctness” cudgel to bear.
I urge you to reconsider your decision. If the flight is white, it is indeed “white flight.” Why sugarcoat it? More important, why give the PC police another victory?
You said a mouthful. I will add that forced busing, while well-intentioned, played a part. Destroying the neighborhood schools concept helps destroy the sense of neighborhood, and other horrors follow. Sane people of all colors will flee a place when the schools turn to crap.