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
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But the community will always bear a history of white flight, racial division and disinvestment. Susan Degrane, Chicago Tribune, 1 July 2025 The city, as a bureaucratic operation, had lost track of its forests, and NRG staffers spread out to map them, discovering places that, owing to white flight and deindustrialization, had become nearly wild. Robert Sullivan, Curbed, 9 June 2025 Life in Birmingham, Alabama, a post-industrial city shaped by the Civil Rights movement and white flight, revolved around Saturday college football games and Sunday church. Amy Yurkanin, ProPublica, 15 Apr. 2025 It's lost more than 10,000 residents since the civil rights era, driven in part by white flight. Marisa Peñaloza, NPR, 9 Mar. 2025 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

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Cite this Entry

“White flight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/white%20flight. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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