white flight

American  

[hwahyt flahyt, wahyt] / ˈʰwaɪt ˈflaɪt, ˈwaɪt /

noun

1. the movement of white people, especially middle-class and affluent white people, from urban neighborhoods undergoing racial integration to the suburbs.

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white flight British  

noun

1. the departure of White residents from areas where non-White people are settling

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Etymology

Origin of white flight

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Docter said later that busing “should have been introduced on a voluntary basis to dispel fears among the majority population and resist white flight.”

From Los Angeles Times

In brief, Citicorp is seeking to build a new headquarters in New York, at a time when New York is mired in rampant street crime, white flight and financial collapse.

From The Wall Street Journal

She was eventually hired by Compton Unified in 1967 and began an 17-year career as a social studies teacher in a school system that, at the time, had become nearly all-Black as a result of white flight.

From Los Angeles Times

How he grew up in an era of “Jaime Crow” and how white flight happened “almost overnight.”

From Los Angeles Times

An American representative told the men at the time that the complaint had come from a white flight attendant.

From New York Times