White Flight

"The Long-Distance Runner" suggests the effects of "white flight," a term coined in 1967 to describe the movement of white people to the suburbs as urban neighborhoods and schools became increasing African American. As cities lost population and tax base, urban neighborhoods decayed. Poor people were left to cope with deterioration and increasing crime, and urban neighborhoods were called ghettos. In this story, Grace Paley imagines a situation in which a middle-class white woman and an African American woman in the ghetto are able to bridge the gap created by white flight. Faith runs through her Brooklyn childhood neighborhood and is able to meet and live with people there. She witnesses the changes that have transpired since her family moved away. She is able to talk with Mrs. Luddy about the problems that confront poor people and middle-class people alike. Faith's idealistic responses to the tenement culture and...