Redlining: The Invisible Division of American Cities

Racial wealth inequality in the US is not a new concept. In the United States, the median net wealth of a white family is 10x the median net wealth of a African American family ($171k vs $17k). There are many reasons to explain this huge gap; however one of the main reasons is lack of home ownership. In the US, 2/3 of the middle’s class’ net wealth is in home equity. However, from the 1930s to late 1960s there was a federal effort to prevent minorities from obtaining mortgages and from moving into new developing areas, and this practice was called redlining. The Federal Housing Administration used maps to identify the riskiness that a loan would default by using two criteria: the age of the home, and the ethnic composition of a neighborhood. The more diverse a neighborhood, the lower it was ranked by the FHA, where many minority neighborhoods were colored red on a map (hence the term redlining). Join me, as I investigate the historical impact of redlining and its legacy today. We will learn about its precursor - racial covenants, the role education has in decreasing the racial wealth gap, and how one historical event could’ve changed how the South Looks today. You don’t want to miss this. 

Sources:

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