white flight

noun

: the departure of whites from places (such as urban neighborhoods or schools) increasingly or predominantly populated by minorities

Examples of white flight in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
His parents had bought their four-apartment home amid late ’60s white flight for $23,000, paying installments to the seller, who eventually forgave the balance. Siddhartha Mitter, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2024 In that case, a white flight attendant claimed that an unidentified individual had body odor and Black men were targeted for removal from the flight in a humiliating act of racial profiling, said the plaintiffs. Kizzy Cox, Essence, 12 Aug. 2024 The phenomenon of white flight — where white families fled inner-ring suburbs as Black families moved in — is apparent in the history of suburban school districts, Lily Altavena reports. Diamy Wang, Detroit Free Press, 28 July 2024 Red and blue Milwaukee spent decades reliably spinning apart, spurred by white flight and racial segregation and political sorting and ceaseless battleground competition and sky-high levels of political engagement and mobilization. Craig Gilbert, Journal Sentinel, 16 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for white flight 

Word History

First Known Use

1956, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of white flight was in 1956

Dictionary Entries Near white flight

Cite this Entry

“White flight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/white%20flight. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!