I originally grew up in a nice rural area, with a low crime rate, beautiful scenery, cheap cost of living, and nice businesses. My family still lives there and I visit about once a week. I am living in a city now, about 30–40 min away from my hometown. I’ve been here 2 years and I truly have disliked it from the beginning. crime rate, noise, lousy neighbors,. The taxes are higher than in the rural areas but the buildings are crappier so not worth it. Once I finish school and get a better job, I will move back to that rural area and commute to the city for work.

I have talked to people about moving back to my hometown (not saying why though) and I get kickback. I have been accused of “white flight” (this city is maybe 40+% black folks and my hometown is 99.9% white, and I am as pale as they come) and I’m told that it’s morally wrong for me to move out when this city is going down the tube and I need to invest in it.

Our city’s mayor (and she’s a real peach, let me tell you) expresses the same views in her community outreach speeches, badmouthing those who want to leave, like myself.

It honestly makes me angry. Why do they think they can tell me what to do with my money or where to live? I feel like bottled air is a better investment than this city. I can’t really wrap my mind around these people feel that it is morally wrong to want to move to a cheaper, relatively crime free, more pleasant place rather than live here.

Can someone enlighten me? Do I have some moral responsibility to sink my hard-earned money into things I don’t believe in?

Topics: household, cities, social justice, racism, citizenship, race, blacks, whites