White civic elites cast blockbusting as whites’ moral disgrace while black realtors behaved honorably

Evidence

The powerful Southwest Citizens Association also attacked the “selfish minority” who undermined the community. “We believe that a few persons have deliberately agitated the situation by spreading false rumors,” wrote its president, Sid Avery. “We ask you, as a fair-minded individual, to refuse to make a fast dollar at the expense of the majority of the 150 or more home owners in this always white community.” Noting that black realtists were not soliciting sales themselves, Avery appealed to the residents’ racial pride. “If our Negro real estate people can play fair, certainly our white real estate men can do as much,” he chided. “Please refuse to have anything to do with sales of white owned homes in Collier Heights to colored.” — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 226

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Southern whites framed busing as punishing their legitimate hard work — Matthew D. Lassiter, The Suburban Origins of “Color-Blind”…, 4; Whites framed blockbusting as a deliberate racial conspiracy — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 166; Blockbusting turned racial fear into profit for real estate speculators — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 917

Broader Connections

• Blockbusting turned racial fear into profit for real estate speculators #expands (0.72) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 917