Allport failed to regard avoidance as a form of discrimination

Evidence

Allport defined discrimination as the denial of equal treatment on the basis of group membership. His examples centered heavily on race and reflected the historical era in which he was writing, focusing on “restrictive covenants, boycotts, neighborhood pressure, legal segregation, ‘gentlemen’s agreements’” as “devices for discrimination” (Allport, 1954/1979, p. 51). Oddly, he did not consider avoidance to be discrimination or even to be especially harmful (a sadly outdated view in light of the bitter ramifications of “White flight” subsequently experienced in American neighborhoods and schools). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 643

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader social science literature on tacit/exclusionary racism — Charles Tilly’s ‘opportunity hoarding’ and Mary Jackman’s work on paternalistic inequality, which the author cites.
• ADDENDUM: White flight as a quiet, polite form of discrimination parallels the ‘On Sacrifice’ piece’s interest in how violence and domination get packaged as civility and tradition.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 643