Meanings
- USuncountableurban studiesThe large-scale migration of white people from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions.
Mr [Bob] Kroll grew up in a blue-collar, union family in the city centre but moved out, one more case of white flight.
2021 May 22, “What It Means to be an American”, in The Economist Magazine, volume 439, number 9246, page 73 more examples
The [Hyde Park-Kenwood Community] Conference was formed in an attempt to stop panic-inspiring rumors and "white flight," and so to work for an integrated, peaceful community.
1954 July, Ann O'Reilly, “World Citizen Starts on His Block”, in Catholic Interracialist, volume 14, number 3, page 3This is illegitimate, since it is only the current bigotry in the society that causes property values to drop—as the result of white flight and the subsequent reduction in the size of the purchasing market.
1988, Richard D. Mohr, Gays/Justice: A Study of Ethics, Society, and Law, →ISBN, page 193Although Kennedy's off-the-cuff oration pacified that crowd, the nationwide riots following King's death accelerated a “white flight” to the suburbs that contributed to undo many of America's recently won civil rights advances.
2025 September 13, Edward Luce, “A descent into mutual loathing”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7
Origin
Attested since 1954. Note that state laws enforcing racial segregation in schools were ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education the same year.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
white flight. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white%20flight
“white flight.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white%20flight. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “white flight,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white%20flight.
Source: white flight on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.