Diary of Systematic Injustice: Redlining

Many years ago in the 1970s my Aunt and Uncle were looking to buy a home in the suburbs of Avon, Connecticut. My Aunt is white and my Uncle is half black and half Native American. I was sad to learn that they made the decision to have my Aunt go alone to look at the houses and my Uncle didn’t meet with the real estate agent until they were certain on the house they were going to buy. 

The reason my Aunt and Uncle made this decision was because of the policy called “redlining” which was a common practice in America during this time period. African Americans were denied mortgages and housing opportunities especially in areas where mostly white people lived. The Federal Housing Administration claimed that having African Americans living in the suburbs would bring down the property values so they were forced to live in urban areas. The name for the term comes from the maps created by the government after the New Deal. Areas where mostly blacks lived where colored red to ensure mortgages were not given out in these areas. 

Map of Redlining

 

The systematic injustice is blaring here as African Americans were denied housing opportunities because of the color of their skin. Even if they were fully capable of paying the mortgage, and in most cases they were willing to pay more, the housing agency refused their money. This has had a lasting effect on communities in America today as they still appear to be segregated. The area where I grew up in New Jersey is predominantly white, but a little further south near Trenton and Newark the communities are mostly African Americans. 

The concept of redlining relates to “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King. In this text, Dr. King discusses the mistreatment of African Americans in the United States. He specifically states how African Americans legally had the right to vote, but certain counties in Alabama made it super difficult and basically denied them this right. This is another example of systematic injustice as the government found conniving ways to prohibit African Americans from voting without technically doing anything illegal. Redlining is another example of this as technically it was not an illegal practice, but it was extremely unethical. 

Source

https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america

https://guides.osu.edu/maps/redlining

Informational Video on Redlining

 

2 thoughts on “Diary of Systematic Injustice: Redlining

  1. Very interesting and eye-opening Systemic Showcase, I had no idea this was something that was occurring in our country. I knew about gerrymandering which is drawing boundaries in order to manipulate votes for certain parties but I have never heard of denying housing opportunities in order to group certain races together. Your media elements enhanced my understanding of the topic greatly. For example, the map you included helped me visualize how redlining is used and the video furthered my knowledge on the topic as well.

  2. This was a really cool post to read. Like many people, I knew about gerrymandering but I had no idea about redlining. I never knew certain people weren’t able to go look at the house that they wanted to buy or denied mortgages because of their skin color. The map you posted also helped me see how the housing communities were segregated and certain people did not have access to mortgages. The video also did a good job explaining the situation. I am also sorry to hear this happened to your uncle and so many other Americans. This is an issue we should actively strive to combat.

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