A Woke Viewpoint On Integration – OpEd

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My local newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat, recently featured an article on the increasing levels of racial integration in many of Florida’s residential neighborhoods. It focused on recent trends showing that historically Black neighborhoods are becoming increasingly multiracial.

The spin the article gives on this trend is that “residents and real estate experts say some Black residents are being priced out of their homes.” The article goes on to say “Black community leaders and real estate agents say Black homeowners and renters are leaving areas like Dunbar for economic reasons.”

One interesting thing about the article is its clear implication that residential integration is having a negative effect on Black residents. The article says that Blacks “are being slowly priced out of the market.”

Not long ago (and maybe still in some circles), integrated neighborhoods were was viewed as a positive development. So I was quite surprised to see this article put a negative spin in increasingly integrated neighborhoods.

This article was published by The Beacon

Randall G. Holcombe

Randall G. Holcombe is Research Fellow at The Independent Institute, DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University, past President of the Public Choice Society, and past President of the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Virginia Tech, and has taught at Texas A&M University and Auburn University. Dr. Holcombe is also Senior Fellow at the James Madison Institute and was a member of the Florida Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors.

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