Black Flight?

One of the well covered social phenomenon's in Detroit's history was the "white flight" of the 50's and 60's where white people fled the city for the outlying suburbs as more African Americans moved into the city; lured at the time by the booming economy. As a result, the city of Detroit today is 82% black (census info). A recent article in the Wall Street Journal here:    "black flight in Detroit" tells of a new development in the Detroit epoch. Young professional black residents who are fleeing the city because of crime, blight and fear. The article chronicles the story of Johnette Barham and her story of continued and relentless roadblocks in trying to have a stable urban life. She is described as being the last in a group of about 40 friends to finally leave the city.

"Ms. Barham's journey from diehard to defector illustrates the precarious state of Detroit today. The city—which has shed roughly 1 million residents since the 1950s—is now losing the African-American professionals who had stayed steadfastly, almost defiantly, loyal. 

Through decades of white flight and economic distress, these diehards have sustained the city's cultural institutions and allowed prime neighborhoods such as Indian Village and Palmer Woods to stave off the blight that infects large swaths of Detroit.