Module 3: HISTORY
   Part 11: Redlining & Gentrification

This part looks at the practice of "redlining" and its lasting impacts on segregation, homeownership, and wealth disparities in the United States. Gentrification is also presented, including its relationship to redlining.

&1: Redlining & Gentrification

As noted in previous parts, systemic racism includes economic impacts, including homeownership and accumulation of generational wealth. Redlining was a practice endorsed by the federal government that directly contributed to segregated communities and the financial oppression of many People of Color.

Read/Listen:
A “Forgotten History” of How the U. S. Government Segregated America
https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america

Watch:
What Is Redlining?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNH6kTHdUlI&feature=emb_logo

How Redlining Shaped America’s Enduring Racial Segregation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6u015wlVjI&feature=emb_logo

Redlining has an enduring legacy as highlighted in these next resources.

Read:
Redlining’s Legacy of Inequality: Low Homeownership Rates, Less Equity for Black Households
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brendarichardson/2020/06/11/redlinings-legacy-of-inequality-low-homeownership-rates-less-equity-for-black-households/#5bc81cd92a7c

How Redlining Kept Black Americans from Home Ownership Decades Ago - And Is Still Contributing to the Racial Wealth Gap Today
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-redlining-kept-black-americans-from-homeownership-and-still-does-2020-6

Even though official redlining maps have disappeared from public use, some people contend that lending practices resembling those from the redlining era persist in today’s market.

Read/Watch:
Redlining’s Legacy: The Maps Are Gone, But the Problem Hasn’t Disappeared
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/redlining-what-is-history-mike-bloomberg-comments/

Another process that serves to make neighborhoods economically inaccessible is gentrification. The process also changes the cultural identity of the community. The Urban Displacement Project helps to explain gentrification and its relationship to redlining. Gentrification often occurs in areas that were once redlined and labeled as hazardous. 

Read/Watch/Explore:
Gentrification Explained
https://www.urbandisplacement.org/gentrification-explained

Redlining and Gentrification
https://www.urbandisplacement.org/redlining

Reflect:
  • What did you learn from these resources?
  • How does this learning impact your view of history and of our current society?
  • How does this learning inspire you to take action? What are your next steps?

The next part will explore the case of Levittown as an example of racist housing policies.