Blockbusting is a discriminatory housing practice that manipulates people through fear and racism to replace one group with another. It harms families, exposes people to inflated prices and predatory lending, and has contributed to white flight in American cities.
Blockbusting is a discriminatory housing practice that has been banned in many regions of the world, although documented cases of blockbusting continue to occur. Several steps are involved in blockbusting, with the end result of kicking a group of people out of one neighborhood and replacing them with another. Blockbusting often plays on fear and racist emotions to manipulate people, and some people argue that the technique has become less effective as people are more open to integrated communities.
The most classic examples of blockbusters come from white neighborhoods in the United States. In a typical success scenario, a real estate agent would drive a black family to a white neighborhood and perhaps sell them a house at a discount. Then, the realtor plastered the neighborhood with flyers, suggesting more blacks would move in and offering to buy homes for cash, at a discount, so white homeowners could move quickly. Then, the homes would be sold to more members of the black community, typically at inflated prices.
This practice is harmful in many ways. First, it hurts families who are forced out through the use of scare tactics, because their homes lose value and can suffer a loss. People who choose to stay behind may find themselves subject to scare tactics, such as leaving houses empty to create an abandoned atmosphere in the neighborhood, driving prices down further.
For the relocating community, the blockbuster exposes people to inflated house prices and predatory lending. Historically, blockbusters often went hand-in-hand with racist practices in banks and securities firms, so black families would be forced into ridiculous mortgages if they wanted to buy real estate. Often, the mortgage was rigged to promote foreclosure, allowing the real estate agent to swoop again, buy the home, and sell it at a profit.
Blockbusting has directly contributed to white flight in many American cities, as white families have left their neighborhoods out of fear of an influx of minorities. Many neighborhoods have also gone into steep decline, thanks to practices like leaving houses empty and encouraging foreclosure, and some very nice old neighborhoods have been destroyed through successful practices. Ironically, in some areas, the circle of success has come full circle, as whites move back into ethnic neighborhoods, gentrify them, and drive up property prices so that minorities can no longer afford to live there.
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