blockbusting
Racial turnover profiteering
Blockbusting was a real estate practice in which agents induced white homeowners to sell cheaply by stoking fears that Black families were moving into the neighborhood, then resold the properties at inflated prices to Black buyers.
The practice, common in mid-twentieth-century American cities, exploited racial anxieties while profiting from segregation: Blockbusting transformed entire neighborhoods within months.
The term is now primarily historical, as fair housing laws have curtailed the practice.
Refusing loans by neighborhood
- steeringControlling direction of movement
- solicitationSeeking to obtain
- door-knockingVisiting residences seeking response
- flyersPrinted promotional handouts
speculators · profiteering · exploitation · destabilization · canvassing
Forced separation by group
- racismPrejudice based on ethnicity
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
Uncontrollable sudden fear
- intimidationDeliberate fear-inducing pressure
- alarmismNeedless raising of fears
- threatIndication of potential harm
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
propaganda · misinformation · doom-and-gloom · fear-mongering · urgency · hysteria
Removal from usual location
- ghettoSegregated urban quarter
- slumImpoverished urban district
- inner-cityCentral part of metropolis
- exodusMass departure from somewhere
resegregation · blight · disinvestment · abandonment · destabilization
Unproven theorizing or risky investment
- flippingTurning over rapidly
- depreciationAsset value reduction over time
- brokersTransaction intermediaries
- commissionsPayments for services rendered
listings · buyers · sellers · appraisal · investment · landlords
redlining
Refusing loans by neighborhood
- steeringControlling direction of movement
- solicitationSeeking to obtain
- door-knockingVisiting residences seeking response
flyers · speculators · profiteering · exploitation · destabilization · canvassing
segregation
Forced separation by group
- racismPrejudice based on ethnicity
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
inequality · redlining · integration · desegregation · discriminatory
panic
Uncontrollable sudden fear
- intimidationDeliberate fear-inducing pressure
- alarmismNeedless raising of fears
- threatIndication of potential harm
anxiety · propaganda · misinformation · doom-and-gloom · fear-mongering · urgency · hysteria
displacement
Removal from usual location
- ghettoSegregated urban quarter
- slumImpoverished urban district
- inner-cityCentral part of metropolis
exodus · resegregation · blight · disinvestment · abandonment · destabilization
speculation
Unproven theorizing or risky investment
- flippingTurning over rapidly
- depreciationAsset value reduction over time
- brokersTransaction intermediaries
commissions · listings · buyers · sellers · appraisal · investment · landlords
- housing historyland grants, homesteading, redlining, zoning laws, deed restrictions
- racial injusticesystemic racism, institutional racism, racial profiling, racial bias, discrimination
- Fair HousingFHA, HUD, housing discrimination, protected classes, fair lending
- segregationresidential segregation, redlining, ghetto, ghettos, steering
- housingapartments, home, house, houses, homes
- city historycity history, city archives, city development, urban development, historic districts
blockbustingfair housing
Antidiscrimination laws for rentals
anti-discrimination · fair lending · open housing · integration · housing integration
blockbustingflopping
Falling loosely, without control
bombing · small-scale · indie · modest · low-budget
block, blocked, blocking, blockage, blocks, blockhead, roadblock, unblocked, blockbuster