White Flight - Myth or Reality? (Los Angeles: school, living, statistics)

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by Miami305Kid

White flight has happened in basically every major American city. Baltimore, Atlanta, Detroit, Newark, Miami, New York, Memphis, New Orleans, etc. Black flight is also taking place in Southern California as many Mexican immigrants become the majority race in the area. If you're black in parts of LA you can get shot for walking into a Mexican neighborhood so many blacks are moving back to the south. White are also starting to move back into areas that were once considered "ghetto". Whites are now moving into parts of Oakland and Harlem when before they would be living in the hood now they can live there in luxury. Basically no one wants to be a racial minority so they move to a place where they can be surrounded by people of thier race.

That's stupid and so untrue. Not everyone wants to live that "clannish" like existence. I for one couldn't. I need "diversity". To live in an area that's all one race simply boggles my mind in this day and age. I also would be bored to tears.

[timelesschild]

Originally Posted by marilyn220

That's stupid and so untrue. Not everyone wants to live that "clannish" like existence. I for one couldn't. I need "diversity". To live in an area that's all one race simply boggles my mind in this day and age. I also would be bored to tears.

Totally agree, Marilyn!

[ArizonaBear]

Are we discussing 'race/ethnicity' or culture here?

I am of 1/2 Hungarian heritage (father is from there) but; I would have no desire to live in a Hungarian enclave where all they did was speak their language.

Read that I definitely prefer to live in a middle class 'Anglo' area--------to me; an Anglo is an English speaker but can be of any race------including middle class Blacks, etc.

In Canada an Anglophone is in fact an English speaker-----of any race.

[CESpeed]

Yeah someone who gets it! It's not about race. It's about language and culture. The American culture is being sucked out of LA by people who aren't suppose to be here in the first place.

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by CESpeed

people who aren't suppose to be here

That is funny. Who is supposed to be here then? Were the original American settlers/colonists supposed to be here? Were the indigenous people who migrated from Asia supposed to be here?

[CESpeed]

I suppose that's why Natives and Black people stand out: we (black people) were dragged here in chains against our will and the Natives were forced onto tiny little portions of their land. We are the only two groups who didn't invade this land. No wonder we don't fit in.

[Fontucky]

Get over it. If you don't fit in, it's because you don't want to.

[CESpeed]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Get over it. If you don't fit in, it's because you don't want to.

Says the card carrying member of the KKK. Take an Early American history class, you'll learn we were chosen because we don't blend in. Take a Recent History class you'll learn that Blacks weren't even consider full citzens until 40 years ago. We finally have a shot with Obama becoming President. We haven't fit in until now because the system was designed for us not to.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by Macross21

Didn't see anyone bring up asians. Whites don't seem to mind asians? ... Is it because most asians have higher education and in turn higher paying jobs than most blacks and Hispanics? Or is it belief in the cultural sense that most asians keep quiet to themselves?

I am asian myself and have white neighbors that seem to prefer talking to me over my hispanic neighbors. And at times I get the sense they think I am white or I am acceptable(for what ever that means) by the way they talk to me....

Also I rarely hear about racism against Asians, it's seems to be always about blacks or hispanics. I never heard anyone ever say "those asians are taking our jobs" or "those asians are bringing down our house prices". But Asians make up more than 12% of the LA population which is larger than the black community. Because of this I feel that whites don't mind living next to Asians?

Speaking as a White, we admire Asians for their industriousness, because of their family values, because of strong work ethic, and because they make such a great effort to get a good education and encourage their children to get good educations. Asians and Whites are more culturally similar than Whites are with Blacks or Latinos. We like Asians because they are more like us than the alternatives.

Plus, Asians have got great food!!! Okay, okay, Mexican food is great too.

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

I have noticed that Asian immigrants to the USA as a group tend to assimilate-------and, fast. I know a woman from Cambodia who came here @ about age 10 without her parents, she was a refugee. Suffice to say; 30 years later, Sandy speaks English about as well as a native born American-------with a slight Southern twang.

That's another good point, that it's often the case that Asians assimilate into mainstream culture, while Latinos isolate themselves and often don't even bother to learn English. On the other hand, it's easily possible for immigrant Latinos to get by without speaking English because of the large Spanish speaking communities, while there are few Chinese, Japanese or Korean communities, so Asians have little choice but to learn English.

Actually the unwillingness for Latino immigrants to learn English is one of my two biggest gripes about Latino immigrants, the other gripe being the willingness to scoff immigration laws and move here illegally.

Originally Posted by Sassberto

White Flight was really a sixties phenomenon. These days affluent whites are moving back to the cities. I think for the most part that term is probably due for retirement.

The people who are leaving are doing so because of housing costs, primarily. Cities are much safer than they used to be and people are less racially divided than 40 years ago. However we as a country are more and more divided by class and income. Most whites today would be thrilled with a middle-class black family on their block, but would be unhappy with low-income whites moving in, for example.

Nope, I disagree with that. Whites are fleeing and it's because of a decline in the quality of life, because of increased crime, increased traffic, and in my case and possibly generally, because I don't want to be a minority. Criticize me for that if you like, but I don't want to live in a different culture than my own. If all the people moving into the area would adopt mainstream culture then I would feel completely different. I don't want to have to learn Spanish just to continue living here. Oh, and on more than one occasion I've had to leave a business because nobody there spoke sufficient English to help by answering my questions (like my local Pollo Loco).

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

I am of 1/2 Hungarian heritage (father is from there) but; I would have no desire to live in a Hungarian enclave where all they did was speak their language.

Again it's the assimilation situation. It's not unusual for Spanish speakers to move into the area and refuse to learn English, while Hungarians or Asians seem to be more willing to learn English, possibly because they have little choice.

Originally Posted by CESpeed

Yeah someone who gets it! It's not about race. It's about language and culture. The American culture is being sucked out of LA by people who aren't suppose to be here in the first place.

Yeppers! That's a very concise statement of the situation. I don't mind people of any race moving here as long as they assimilate the culture, but the vast influx of undocumented immigrants is refusing to assimilate, refusing to learn English. It's making it more difficult for me to get along since my Spanish is poor at best. Two years of high school Spanish and too many decades have passed since then.

Originally Posted by CESpeed

I suppose that's why Natives and Black people stand out: we (black people) were dragged here in chains against our will and the Natives were forced onto tiny little portions of their land. We are the only two groups who didn't invade this land. No wonder we don't fit in.

Please note that it's not just White flight, it's Black flight too, as several have pointed out. What it really is, it's everything but Brown flight. The Latino population is increasing in percentage while every other segment is decreasing. If that's not flight then I don't know what it is.

[FinnishAmerican]

Originally Posted by Macross21

Didn't see anyone bring up asians. Whites don't seem to mind asians? Areas like Arcadia, San Marino, South Pasadena, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Cerritos, Irvine, Walnut all have high white and asian populations. Is it because most asians have higher education and in turn higher paying jobs than most blacks and Hispanics? Or is it belief in the cultural sense that most asians keep quiet to themselves?

I am asian myself and have white neighbors that seem to prefer talking to me over my hispanic neighbors. And at times I get the sense they think I am white or I am acceptable(for what ever that means) by the way they talk to me. For instance my hispanic neighbor was playing mexican songs and one of my white neighbors actually came out his house to complain about it, but when I was playing my old Chinese songs he came over asked me to make a copy because he thought it was "mellow"? A few of the white guys in the neighborhood get together to watch baseball and have invited me over a few times but I didn't see any of the hispanic men in our neighborhood there. And a couple of the white wifes in the neighborhood ask my wife who is chinese if she could show them how to cook a few of the chinese dishes.

Also I rarely hear about racism against Asians, it's seems to be always about blacks or hispanics. I never heard anyone ever say "those asians are taking our jobs" or "those asians are bringing down our house prices". But Asians make up more than 12% of the LA population which is larger than the black community. Because of this I feel that whites don't mind living next to Asians?

im in finland but id say I prefer interact with asian people over black and brown. Sad fact is that their rep is ruined, klots of criminals.
Asians are the best! Funny, techonology, open minded and friendnly.