What is Redlining?

 

Redlining is racial segregation in housing due to the housing shortage in the mid-nineteen hundreds. It was a movement initiated by real estate workers and the government to flourish the U.S. economy. It is a crucial move that still influences American society nowadays. 

 

 

The Great Depression (1930), which occurred from the immense fall of stock prices in the United States, resulted in unemployment and deprived citizens of the capital, making workers unable to make payments.

 

Skaba. (2022, December 13). Rescheduled - redlines and green zones: Reassessing the redline maps - calendar - AIA new york / center for architecture. Calendar. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://calendar.aiany.org/2022/12/13/redlines-and-green-zones-reassessing-the-redline-maps/

 

This created a colossal economic and housing crisis in America. The government established the "Home Owners Loan Corporation" (HOLC). This corporation loaned people capital to help pay for their houses and rent. It categorized the states and parts of America from class A to D, A being the most valuable land and D being the "Red Area," which was perceived as unimportant. Most black or colored people were denied loans or were not "certified" to buy houses in valuable areas. Some home sellers went beyond and used "Reverse Redlining" tactics, which is when the home seller places colored people in the valuable region and inflate the price, only to evict them once they cannot keep up with the rent. In 1934, the FHA approved concrete walls to separate white and nonwhite neighborhoods. As the movement declined, the people of color started standing up for themselves. In 1934, Shelly V. Creamer won a case, arguing that Redlining violated the 14th Amendment: which grants citizenship and equal rights, both civil and legal, to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. As more and more people started to speak up, in 1968, the Fair Housing Act enabled African Americans to rent and buy housing.

 

 

Redlining led to numerous problems. The obesity rate increased since residents in Redlined area ultimately could not afford healthy diets. They were forced to eat processed food, like junk food, which contributed to the obesity rate. Health disparity rates, such as maternal death after birth, cancer, and asthma, were also higher in realigned areas.