Whereas access to opportunity plays a fundamental role in determining the prospects of an individual with respect to achieving upward mobility and the American Dream; Whereas where an individual lives plays an outsized role in determining the access of such individual to life-altering opportunities, such as finding a well-paying job and avoiding illnesses caused by environmental factors; Whereas a persistent wealth gap exists in the United States between the wealthy and the vast majority of Americans, a gap that particularly impacts communities of color; Whereas a lack of wealth increases the vulnerability of a family to socioeconomic emergencies, such as health-related emergencies that can cause financial ruin; Whereas an income gap only explains a small portion of the racial wealth gap; Whereas housing, as the most common household asset and largest source of private wealth, is the largest driver of the racial wealth gap; Whereas Federal Government redlining provided the financial foundation and legal impetus for the racially discriminatory housing practices principally responsible for a disparity in housing wealth; Whereas redlining used the authority of the Federal Government and leveraged the borrowing power of that Government to reinforce racially discriminatory incentive structures in the housing market that substantially contributed to the persistent segregation still seen today; Whereas segregation creates an additional barrier to upward mobility for minority communities by concentrating disadvantage regardless of income; Whereas neighborhoods with high concentrations of Jews and immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Poland, and other Eastern European countries were also redlined, creating a multiethnic diaspora of the intentionally marginalized; Whereas the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 exacerbated the racial wealth gap