Whites anchored neighborhood defense to public amenities like parks and schools

Evidence

The McLeans’ charge was not a new one. As early as 1947, when blacks began buying homes north of the neighborhood, white residents spoke knowingly of a similar conspiracy. “The Negroes are slowly but surely surrounding Mozley Park,” Joe Wallace warned. “It has been said that the Negro leaders want the Park [and] also the school for the Negro Race.” (In a claim that other whites would overlook, Wallace also charged that the “Old Folks Home” of Battle Hill Haven would similarly be “lost” if Mozley Park underwent transition.) As blacks began buying homes closer to these public spaces, whites grew increasingly defensive. Most of them, like the McLeans, considered “their” elementary school and “their” city park the best parts of the neighborhood and refused to abandon them without a fight. Taking stock of the situation years later, a black banker estimated that “95%” of white homeowners in Mozley Park had refused to sell “mainly because of the PARK & the SCHOOL.” — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 165

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Residential segregation was conceived as territorial defense of white islands against black encroachment — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 115; White-only public spaces enclosed Mozley Park protecting its residential segregation — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 141; Whites linked their children’s safety in public space directly to neighborhood racial composition — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 207 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Whites redefined neighborhood worth as racial homogeneity plus amenity self-sufficiency #expands (0.88) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 187
• Whites abandoned prized public spaces rather than see them integrated #complicates (0.85) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 433
• Whites linked their children’s safety in public space directly to neighborhood racial composition #expands (0.82) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 207
• White resistance in transitioning Atlanta neighborhoods targeted institutions like schools and churches. #expands (0.80) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 211
• White homeowners performed community solidarity as a defensive strategy against desegregation #exemplifies (0.78) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 190
• Whites embraced pluralism partly to legitimize abandoning troubled city spaces #complicates (0.78) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 389
• Failed community defense pushed whites toward an ideology of individuality #complicates (0.70) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 240