We have yet to get to this topic yet in class, but when it came up in my Urban Politics course, I decided to run with it.
During the mid-twentieth century, a policy known as redlining drastically altered the course of urban development and growth in the United States. Essentially, real estate agents, banks, and federal agencies drew lines around neighborhoods they feared to be “high risk” or “declining.” If your neighborhood or the place you wanted to live fell within those boundary lines, the banks and federal housing authorities would refuse your loan or mortgage application. By “coincidence” these troublesome neighborhoods nearly always were majority African American. Both white and black families, many with husbands returning from war, looked to federal housing loans to finance their American dream. However, they could only get these cheap loans by building or buying in acceptable neighborhoods. These communities were frequently located away from the city centers and areas that needed monetary infusion. The removal of solid family units and their tax incomes from traditional, established neighborhoods caused many of these communities to become self-fulfilling prophecies of the banks and federal agencies.
In addition to redlining, more informal means, like steering were taken to directly or indirectly ensure racial segregation in the post-war economy. Real estate agents would take their clients and steer them to neighborhoods where they were most likely to “feel comfortable.” For black families, this meant taking them into neighborhoods where there were no loans available to purchase, construct, or repair homes and businesses because of the redlining.
Redlining and steering maintained or exaggerated perceptions of race. White families would drive through the black neighborhoods, see run down homes and vacant businesses and form their own ideas and stereotypes. These stereotypes were then used to draw the redlines, which affected the real estate agents’ decisions, and perpetuated the cycle.
Both redlining and steering were prohibited with the passing of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. This act prohibited discrimination in housing for racial, religious, sex, or national origin reasons. Although this act has been in place and enlarged for nearly 45 years, there is still discriminatory actions taking place, especially in southern cities, perpetuating segregation. One such instance occurred only a few months ago with a professor of mine and is the reason for the discussion of this topic. This professor is African American and just moved to Memphis. Although she told the real estate agent where she would like to live, in East Memphis near good public schools, she was steered to areas of South Memphis where she was told she would be “more comfortable.” My professor saw through this and immediately changed real estate firms but could easily have pressed charges for discrimination.
This is just one example of modern segregation and prejudice. But, I know it exists in other forms, like in hiring practices and law enforcement, across the country. This got me thinking about whether there will ever be an end to discrimination, or will the perpetuation of stereotypes and prejudices continue even after governments and other organizations have devoted untold resources to eliminating it?
Here's an example of redlining in Philadelphia.
We also went over the topic of redlining in Urban Studies 201. It was really interesting that banks could deny loans and services to people of different races to alter the racial composition and demographics of a neighborhood. The banks would literally trace areas in red and not give out loans to those who live in that designated area. In areas, such as Memphis, redlining would predominantly affect African Americans. Redlining echoed the Jim Crow laws, which prevented African Americans from residing and moving into flourishing white neighborhoods. I was even more surprised to find that this practice didn’t cease after the Civil Rights Act of 1965. In fact, redlining had been pervasive into the 1990s.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, the banks didn’t just redline African Americans from predominantly white neighborhoods. Redlining also pertained to the start-up of business ventures by African Americans. It prevented African Americans from obtaining loans to begin businesses, which could affect the economic growth of the city itself and lead to an increasing in economic mobility for the budding African American entrepreneurs.
Redlining results in poverty and joblessness, which translates to lower tax bases and property appraisals but greater socio-economic gaps between African Americans and caucasians. The banks facilitated the idea of “rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” This leads to the segregation of races in a city setting, and it creates a “doughnut city.”