Notes From D.R. | Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

In the late-1940s, after Nat King Cole moved into an all-white suburban California neighborhood, he received a letter from a neighbor advising him that "undesirables" were not wanted in the area. In his response, Cole noted that he did not want "undesirables" living in the area either, "…and if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I’ll be the first to complain."

Cole used humor to defuse a potentially tense situation; however, liberal social scientists insist that such tensions are still palpable in predominately white suburbs throughout the United States, as Caucasian residents become uneasy once a certain number of African-Americans purchase property in a particular area. Progressive experts coined the phrase "tipping point" to describe the phenomenon of whites moving out of a suburban neighborhood once a certain percentage of blacks move in.

The common left-wing conclusion is that naked racism is the reason for white departure from an increasingly nonwhite neighborhood. However, isn’t this really just another example of whites reacting not to racial differences, but to perceived cultural differences?

Naked racism would be a suitable explanation for the "tipping point" phenomenon if blacks who were perceived to have educational and professional backgrounds similar to their new white neighbors moved in in significant numbers. In such a case, the white reaction would be based solely on color, not on culture, and thus would be a lamentable example of pervasive prejudice in America.

However, the "tipping point" phenomenon tends not to be based on a reaction to color per se, but on a belief that "disadvantaged" and/or "dysfunctional" blacks are moving in. If class differences are "in play"–i.e., if blacks who are perceived to be not as well-educated and not as "mainstream" in their values as their new white neighbors move in–then the white reaction is just another example of what conservative social scientist Dinesh D’Souza defined a decade ago as "rational discrimination."

Fair or not, whites who feel that their new black neighbors are not "middle-class" in their values and comportment will conclude that the increase in black residents will be followed in short order by an increase in crime, illegitimacy, unkempt appearance of property, etc. Once this perception takes hold, whites will, of course, move out en masse.

Contrary to the paranoid, pessimistic proclamations of modern-day civil rights figures, most white Americans are not surreptitious segregationists, and many would have no problem living next door to someone who, even if of a different color, was "mainstream" in their values and behavior. However, most white Americans are not willing to live next door to a person of a different race who is perceived to be someone who embraces "urban" or "street" values. This concern about cultural differences explains the "tipping point" phenomenon.

How does one bring about an end to such a phenomenon? The easiest answer, some libertarians would argue, would be to repeal "fair housing" laws, thus guaranteeing that certain neighborhoods would never have to deal with circumstances that might lead to a "tipping point." I cannot agree with this conclusion, as the purpose of "fair housing" laws is to protect the law-abiding, civil, "mainstream" person of color who wishes to live in a non-blighted region of a given state. While it is not wrong to be concerned about creating circumstances that are ripe for the "tipping point" phenomenon to take hold, a measure that would effectively punish law-abiding blacks is not the way to go.

Ultimately, the best way to bring about the end of the "tipping point" phenomenon is to seek the destruction of the behaviors that trigger such a reaction–i.e., the antisocial behaviors of young urban America that Bill Cosby so forcefully condemned two years ago. If more and more young people of color embraced the "mainstream" instead of the "extreme," there would be no legitimate justification for suburban whites to think, "There goes the neighborhood!" when significant numbers of blacks move in.