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Blockbusting is the illegal practice of deliberately escalating the cost of a house in an attempt to keep out certain minorities, such as African Americans, from a particular neighborhood. African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... Neighbourhood is also a term in topology. ...

Alternatively and in contradiction to the preceding definiton, "blockbusting" refers to the practice whereby neighbourhoods demonstrating exclusivity based on social differences, particularly of race, have their perceived 'exclusive' nature broken down in order to encourage the sale of properties and in-migration of formerly excluded social groups. It has been suggested that the term originated with the practice in Chicago where in order to accommodate the out-migration of economically successful residents to better neighbourhoods outside ghettos, people were hired to create a visual presence in the restricted neighbourhoods and thus, encourage residents to sell their properties and move to still more restrictivve suburbs. For example, female black women were paid/encouraged to push baby carriages in exclusive white neighbourhoods to encourage white residents to sell their properties on the premise property values would decline with an increase in the visible social differences that characterized neighbouring ghettos.