Left behind

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White flight from urban areas was a widespread phenomenon throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, and into the ‘80s, but not all whites retreated to the suburbs. The fate of those left behind, mostly elderly whites, does not get reported. If the progressive press does mention them, it treats them with the same contempt that it reserves for the Afrikaners in South Africa. It dismisses them as racist relics that deserve whatever fate befalls them. But what was their fate? History books are mute on the subject. The reality was harsh for those elderly whites trapped in their homes as the neighborhood changed around them. They did not envision spending their golden years struggling to survive in a hostile environment.

Left Behind In Rosedale is a book that explores in depth their plight. The work of a university sociologist, it is surprisingly free of the usual neo-Marxist tropes that emanate from academia. It depicts honestly the plight of those elderly whites. The book focuses on the neighborhood of Rosedale, part of the Fort Worth, Texas metropolitan area. It is typical of many neighborhoods across the country that experienced demographic change as blacks moved in and whites moved out.

The author conducted in 1983 survey findings that clarified the type and number of crimes directed toward Rosedale’s white elderly. Through the surveys, it was possible to compare rates of victimization among Rosedale’s white, senior citizens living in other neighborhoods within the metropolitan area, and those who had experienced theft or robberies in Fort Worth as a whole. Five types of criminal activities appear in Table 1: (1) theft or destruction of outside equipment or furniture, (2) theft of a car or car parts, (3) attempted home break-ins, (4) actual home break-ins, and (5) street thefts and muggings. The survey findings clearly indicated that the elderly of Rosedale were victimized at rates several times higher than other senior citizens or citywide residents generally. It should also be noted that the vast majority of the crimes in the survey findings were committed by young black males.

Author-generated using book data

The survey, although useful, does not reveal the subjective dimension of criminal victimization. For that, the author conducted field interviews which provided a much better understanding of the emotional and physiological consequences produced by victimization. Many of the elderly women trembled or cried when they spoke about crime. Many asked for help that neither the author nor members of his research team could extend to them. The author reveals that the field research and interviews dealing with the criminal victimization of Rosedale’s elderly were exhausting and emotionally draining.

Their stories reveal how they were prisoners in their own home with bars on the windows and reinforced doors and locks to protect against break-ins. They tell of being afraid to go outside after dark and being assaulted and robbed by black youths during the day while going to the local market. Some stories are much more harrowing, describing sexual violence and rape.

The stories that the elderly women of Rosedale related to the author were not foreign to my ears—around the same time in the late ‘70s, my parents dealt with a similar family crisis. My grandmother, who was living alone in a changing neighborhood after my grandfather died, had her home broken into while she slept by neighborhood black youths. They wantonly wrecked a lot of her possessions and destroyed what peace of mind she possessed. Surprisingly, because of her attachment to her home, she did not want to leave, and it took a lot of convincing by my mother to get her to move out of her home and in with my parents in a distant town with which she had little familiarity.

I know my story and those of the elderly white women of Rosedale are not unique. The saga played out in thousands of places across the nation during that period. When Michele Obama in her glib manner states, “I want to remind white folks that y’all were running from us. And you’re still running,” she lies about why white people were fleeing. White flight was not an irrational act. Often it was a story that took the form of “enough is enough” after a gunpoint robbery, home invasion, or similar last-straw outrage. A story in which Michelle’s white neighbors simply said, “Who wants to get used to living like that?”

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