White flight is the process where white families and individuals leave cities, moving to suburbs, to avoid living in integrated communities. An influx of white flight coincided with suburbanization, where suburbs became the pinnacle of middle-class life. Cities grew to encompass more people and increase spatial boundaries to prevent racial integration. White flight was the result of a new form of segregationist policies and cooperation between local governments and white activists to restrict black residents from social mobility.
Artistic rendition of white flight
New Pittsburgh Courier Newspaper Headline, Jan. 1, 1996
Change in Black and White Population in Central City, 1950-1960 (Boustan, 2010).
Census data shows that as black populations increased in certain areas, white populations decreased.Â
The change was tracked on a scatter plot and then calculated through a linear regression model. This helped inform the basis of "white flight".