0:00:01.658,0:00:07.604
Imagine a place where your neighbors[br]greet your children by name;

0:00:07.628,0:00:10.931
a place with splendid vistas;

0:00:10.955,0:00:14.066
a place where you can drive[br]just 20 minutes

0:00:14.090,0:00:16.152
and put your sailboat on the water.

0:00:16.680,0:00:19.259
It's a seductive place, isn't it?

0:00:20.261,0:00:21.857
I don't live there.

0:00:21.881,0:00:24.430
(Laughter)

0:00:24.454,0:00:30.473
But I did journey on a 27,000-mile trip

0:00:30.497,0:00:36.859
for two years, to the fastest-growing[br]and whitest counties in America.

0:00:38.732,0:00:40.201
What is a Whitopia?

0:00:40.820,0:00:43.975
I define Whitopia in three ways:

0:00:43.999,0:00:50.658
First, a Whitopia has posted at least[br]six percent population growth since 2000.

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Secondly, the majority of that growth[br]comes from white migrants.

0:00:56.415,0:01:00.215
And third, the Whitopia[br]has an ineffable charm,

0:01:00.239,0:01:02.794
a pleasant look and feel,

0:01:02.818,0:01:04.326
a je Ne sais quoi.

0:01:04.350,0:01:07.559
(Laughter)

0:01:07.583,0:01:11.975
To learn how and why[br]Whitopias are ticking,

0:01:11.999,0:01:17.422
I immersed myself for several months[br]apiece in three of them:

0:01:17.446,0:01:20.096
first, St. George, Utah;

0:01:20.120,0:01:22.557
second, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho;

0:01:22.581,0:01:25.184
and third, Forsyth County, Georgia.

0:01:26.883,0:01:32.409
First stop, St. George --[br]a beautiful town of red rock landscapes.

0:01:32.433,0:01:37.786
In the 1850s, Brigham Young[br]dispatched families to St. George

0:01:37.810,0:01:41.094
to grow cotton because[br]of the hot, arid climate.

0:01:41.118,0:01:45.546
And so they called it Utah's Dixie,[br]and the name sticks to this day.

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I approached my time in each Whitopia[br]like an anthropologist.

0:01:53.354,0:01:57.975
I made detailed spreadsheets of all[br]the power brokers in the communities,

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who I needed to meet,[br]where I needed to be,

0:02:01.457,0:02:04.675
and I threw myself with gusto[br]in these communities.

0:02:04.699,0:02:06.975
I went to zoning board meetings,

0:02:06.999,0:02:10.762
I went to Democratic clubs[br]and Republican clubs.

0:02:10.786,0:02:12.698
I went to poker nights.

0:02:15.206,0:02:20.118
In St. George, I rented[br]a home at the Entrada,

0:02:20.142,0:02:23.254
one of the town's[br]premier gated communities.

0:02:23.278,0:02:27.596
There were no Motel 6's[br]or Howard Johnsons for me.

0:02:27.620,0:02:31.954
I lived in Whitopia as a resident,[br]and not like a visitor.

0:02:32.883,0:02:37.385
I rented myself this home by phone.

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(Laughter)

0:02:39.972,0:02:41.337
(Applause)

0:02:41.361,0:02:47.321
Golf is the perfect seductive[br]symbol of Whitopia.

0:02:47.750,0:02:49.560
When I went on my journey,

0:02:49.584,0:02:52.699
I had barely ever held a golf club.

0:02:52.723,0:02:57.398
By the time I left, I was golfing[br]at least three times a week.

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(Laughter)

0:03:00.133,0:03:03.069
Golf helps people bond.

0:03:03.093,0:03:09.336
Some of the best interviews I ever scored[br]during my trip were on the golf courses.

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One venture capitalist, for example,[br]invited me to golf in his private club

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that had no minority members.

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I also went fishing.

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(Laughter)

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Because I had never fished,[br]this fellow had to teach me

0:03:25.497,0:03:28.273
how to cast my line and what bait to use.

0:03:30.550,0:03:33.821
I also played poker every weekend.

0:03:33.845,0:03:36.677
It was Texas Hold 'em with a $10 buy-in.

0:03:38.058,0:03:42.317
My poker mates may have been bluffing[br]about the hands that they drew,

0:03:42.341,0:03:45.523
but they weren't bluffing[br]about their social beliefs.

0:03:45.547,0:03:49.150
Some of the most raw,[br]salty conversations I ever had

0:03:49.174,0:03:51.879
during my journey were at the poker table.

0:03:52.951,0:03:54.957
I'm a gung ho entertainer.

0:03:56.140,0:04:00.116
I love to cook, I hosted[br]many dinner parties, and in return,

0:04:00.140,0:04:03.288
people invited me to their dinner parties,

0:04:03.312,0:04:05.970
and to their barbecues,[br]and to their pool parties,

0:04:05.994,0:04:07.789
and to their birthday parties.

0:04:09.385,0:04:10.852
But it wasn't all fun.

0:04:11.781,0:04:16.143
Immigration turned out to be[br]a big issue in this Whitopia.

0:04:16.167,0:04:19.581
The St. George's Citizens Council[br]on Illegal Immigration

0:04:19.605,0:04:23.699
held regular and active protests[br]against immigration,

0:04:23.723,0:04:29.624
and so what I gleaned from this Whitopia[br]is what a hot debate this would become.

0:04:29.648,0:04:33.633
It was a real-time preview,[br]and so it has become.

0:04:35.084,0:04:40.427
Next stop: Almost Heaven,[br]a cabin I rented for myself

0:04:40.451,0:04:44.118
in Coeur d'Alene, in the beautiful[br]North Idaho panhandle.

0:04:45.048,0:04:48.071
I rented this place[br]for myself, also by phone.

0:04:48.095,0:04:49.475
(Laughter)

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The book "A Thousand Places To See[br]Before You Die" lists Coeur d'Alene --

0:04:55.374,0:04:59.468
it's a gorgeous paradise for huntsmen,[br]boatmen and fishermen.

0:05:01.031,0:05:04.064
My growing golf skills[br]came in handy in Coeur d'Alene.

0:05:04.088,0:05:07.032
I golfed with retired LAPD cops.

0:05:07.714,0:05:13.224
In 1993, around 11,000 families and cops

0:05:13.248,0:05:19.358
fled Los Angeles[br]after the L.A. racial unrest,

0:05:19.382,0:05:23.404
for North Idaho, and they've built[br]an expatriated community.

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Given the conservatism of these cops,

0:05:27.846,0:05:33.188
there's no surprise that North Idaho[br]has a strong gun culture.

0:05:33.212,0:05:38.994
In fact, it is said, North Idaho[br]has more gun dealers than gas stations.

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So what's a resident to do to fit in?

0:05:44.837,0:05:46.203
I hit the gun club.

0:05:46.942,0:05:50.337
When I rented a gun,[br]the gentleman behind the counter

0:05:50.361,0:05:52.975
was perfectly pleasant and kind,

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until I showed him[br]my New York City driver's license.

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That's when he got nervous.

0:05:59.767,0:06:03.036
I'm not as bad a shot[br]as I thought I might have been.

0:06:04.448,0:06:10.904
What I learned from North Idaho[br]is the peculiar brand of paranoia

0:06:10.928,0:06:16.043
that can permeate a community[br]when so many cops and guns are around.

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In North Idaho, in my red pickup truck,

0:06:22.801,0:06:24.158
I kept a notepad.

0:06:24.700,0:06:28.938
And in that notepad I counted[br]more Confederate flags than black people.

0:06:29.589,0:06:32.852
In North Idaho, I found Confederate flags

0:06:32.876,0:06:37.101
on key chains, on cellphone paraphernalia,

0:06:37.125,0:06:38.422
and on cars.

0:06:39.780,0:06:43.225
About a seven-minute drive[br]from my hidden lake cabin

0:06:43.249,0:06:46.066
was the compound of Aryan Nations,

0:06:46.090,0:06:48.082
the white supremacist group.

0:06:50.384,0:06:55.456
America's Promise Ministries,[br]the religious arm of Aryan Nations,

0:06:55.480,0:06:59.968
happened to have a three-day[br]retreat during my visit.

0:07:00.913,0:07:02.548
So I decided to crash it.

0:07:02.572,0:07:05.184
(Laughter)

0:07:05.208,0:07:10.043
I'm the only non-Aryan journalist[br]I'm aware of ever to have done so.

0:07:10.067,0:07:11.129
(Laughter)

0:07:11.153,0:07:15.766
Among the many memorable[br]episodes of that retreat...

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(Laughter)

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...is when Abe, an Aryan,[br]sidled up next to me.

0:07:20.999,0:07:26.419
He slapped my knee, and he said, "Hey[br]Rich, I just want you to know one thing.

0:07:26.443,0:07:30.943
We are not white supremacists.[br]We are white separatists.

0:07:30.967,0:07:32.841
We don't think we're better than you,

0:07:32.865,0:07:34.554
we just want to be away from you."

0:07:34.578,0:07:38.992
(Laughter)

0:07:39.016,0:07:46.011
Indeed, most white people in Whitopia[br]are neither white supremacists

0:07:46.035,0:07:47.850
or white separatists;

0:07:47.874,0:07:51.799
in fact, they're not there[br]for explicitly racial reasons at all.

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Rather, they emigrate there

0:07:55.220,0:07:58.928
for friendliness, comfort,[br]security, safety --

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reasons that they implicitly associate[br]to whiteness in itself.

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Next stop was Georgia.

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In Georgia, I stayed in an exurb[br]north of Atlanta.

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In Utah, I found poker;

0:08:14.846,0:08:16.537
in Idaho, I found guns;

0:08:16.561,0:08:18.115
in Georgia, I found God.

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(Laughter)

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The way that I immersed myself[br]in this Whitopia

0:08:22.999,0:08:26.390
was to become active[br]at First Redeemer Church,

0:08:26.414,0:08:29.918
a megachurch that's so huge[br]that it has golf carts

0:08:29.942,0:08:35.107
to escort the congregants around[br]its many parking lots on campus.

0:08:35.758,0:08:38.467
I was active in the youth ministry.

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And for me, personally,[br]I was more comfortable in this Whitopia

0:08:43.447,0:08:48.080
than say, in a Colorado, or an Idaho,[br]or even a suburban Boston.

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That is because [there], in Georgia,

0:08:52.113,0:08:56.632
white people and black people are more[br]historically familiar to one another.

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I was less exotic in this Whitopia.

0:08:59.912,0:09:01.912
(Laughter)

0:09:02.684,0:09:04.271
But what does it all mean?

0:09:05.042,0:09:10.423
Whitopian dreaming, Whitopia migration,[br]is a push-pull phenomenon,

0:09:10.447,0:09:14.588
full of alarming pushes[br]and alluring pulls,

0:09:14.612,0:09:21.225
and Whitopia operates at the level[br]of conscious and unconscious bias.

0:09:21.860,0:09:27.263
It's possible for people to be in Whitopia[br]not for racist reasons,

0:09:27.287,0:09:29.577
though it has racist outcomes.

0:09:31.704,0:09:35.548
Many Whitopians feel pushed by illegals,

0:09:35.572,0:09:41.089
social welfare abuse, minorities,[br]density, crowded schools.

0:09:41.113,0:09:46.292
Many Whitopians feel pulled by merit,

0:09:46.316,0:09:52.080
freedom, the allure of privatism --[br]privatized places, privatized people,

0:09:52.104,0:09:53.421
privatized things.

0:09:55.524,0:10:01.112
And I learned in Whitopia[br]how a country can have racism

0:10:01.136,0:10:02.471
without racists.

0:10:03.241,0:10:06.028
Many of my smug urban liberal friends

0:10:06.052,0:10:08.789
couldn't believe I would go[br]on such a venture.

0:10:09.447,0:10:14.969
The reality is that many white Americans[br]are affable and kind.

0:10:15.643,0:10:20.412
Interpersonal race relations --[br]how we treat each other as human beings --

0:10:20.436,0:10:24.043
are vastly better than in[br]my parents' generation.

0:10:25.162,0:10:28.785
Can you imagine me going[br]to Whitopia 40 years ago?

0:10:29.596,0:10:31.484
What a journey that would have been.

0:10:31.508,0:10:33.266
(Laughter)

0:10:33.290,0:10:35.159
And yet, some things haven't changed.

0:10:35.572,0:10:42.283
America is as residentially[br]and educationally segregated today

0:10:42.307,0:10:44.874
as it was in 1970.

0:10:47.523,0:10:52.154
As Americans, we often find ways[br]to cook for each other,

0:10:52.178,0:10:53.798
to dance with each other,

0:10:53.822,0:10:55.695
to host with each other,

0:10:55.719,0:11:00.767
but why can't that translate into how we[br]treat each other as communities?

0:11:01.235,0:11:03.355
It's a devastating irony,

0:11:03.379,0:11:06.691
how we have gone forward as individuals,

0:11:06.715,0:11:09.325
and backwards as communities.

0:11:11.766,0:11:16.059
One of the Whitopian outlooks[br]that really hit me

0:11:16.083,0:11:18.255
was a proverbial saying:

0:11:18.279,0:11:21.755
"One black man is[br]a delightful dinner guest;

0:11:21.779,0:11:23.821
50 black men is a ghetto."

0:11:28.879,0:11:35.755
One of the big contexts animating[br]my Whitopian journey was the year 2042.

0:11:36.668,0:11:42.776
By 2042, white people will no longer be[br]the American majority.

0:11:43.450,0:11:46.751
As such, will there be more Whitopias?

0:11:48.926,0:11:50.613
In looking at this,

0:11:50.637,0:11:57.344
the danger of Whitopia is[br]that the more segregation we have,

0:11:57.368,0:12:03.169
the less we can look at and confront[br]conscious and unconscious bias.

0:12:06.304,0:12:10.665
I ventured on my two-year,[br]27,000 mile journey

0:12:10.689,0:12:15.776
to learn where, why, and how[br]white people are fleeing,

0:12:15.800,0:12:18.542
but I didn't expect to have[br]so much fun on my journey.

0:12:18.566,0:12:19.573
(Laughter)

0:12:19.597,0:12:22.487
I didn't expect to learn[br]so much about myself.

0:12:23.408,0:12:26.856
I don't expect I'll be living[br]in a Whitopia --

0:12:26.880,0:12:28.991
or a Blacktopia, for that matter.

0:12:29.792,0:12:33.201
I do plan to continue golfing[br]every chance I get.

0:12:33.225,0:12:34.787
(Laughter)

0:12:34.811,0:12:39.436
And I'll just have to leave the guns[br]and megachurches back in Whitopia.

0:12:40.714,0:12:41.866
Thank you.

0:12:41.890,0:12:47.976
(Applause)