Event

Rich Benjamin: The Implications of White Flight

As immigrant populationslargely people of colorincrease their stake in cities and suburbs, more and more white people are moving to small towns and exurban areas. Journalist Rich Benjamin, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan public-policy research and advocacy organization Demos, calls these enclaves "Whitopias," and from 2007 to 2009, he embarked on a 26,909-mile journey to some of the fastest-growing and whitest locales in our nation. Benjamin, author of Searching for Whitopia, explores the social and political implications of this phenomenon, concluding that Obama's historical presidency has actually raised the stakes in a battle between two versions of America: one that is broadly comfortable with diversity yet residentially segregated (ObamaNation), and one that does not mind a little ethnic foodas long as it does not overwhelm a white dominant culture (Whitopia). Presented by Town Halls Center for Civic Life, with Demos and Elliott Bay Book Company.