Blockbusting turned racial fear into profit for real estate speculators

Evidence

White real estate agents and speculators exploited everyone’s racist ideas through blockbusting—the practice of convincing White owners to sell their homes at a reduced price, out of the fear that property values were on the verge of a steep drop due to Blacks moving in, only to resell at above-market value to Black buyers eager for better housing stock. — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 917

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Extends ‘Grafting & Growth’ thinking about infrastructure in the opposite direction: here, manipulation of built environments (housing) is weaponized via racist fear.
• XREF: connects to: Housing-market discrimination makes purportedly free market choices illusory — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 317; Early white sellers triggered a domino flight effect on the block — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 151; Black realtists deliberately staged block-by-block racial transition to avoid panic — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 160 (+5 more)