Title: Redlining has left many communities of color exposed to lead - Child Trends
Headings: Redlining has left many communities of color exposed to lead
Redlining has left many communities of color exposed to lead
Authors:
Publication Date:
Topic:

Content: People of color were often unable to purchase houses or refinance mortgages, or were barred from taking residence in suburbs, making it difficult for them to move out of redlined areas while white families could more easily transition to suburbs. This, in turn, made it harder for black and other racial and ethnic minority residents to enjoy residential mobility and served to entrench the system of neighborhood segregation. Over time, homes, schools, and small businesses in predominantly black or integrated communities diminished in value due to disinvestment and segregation. Black people were unable to obtain loans to purchase homes—even in redlined neighborhoods—and developer investments were deterred by a lack of funding, leading to neighborhood underdevelopment and deterioration. As a result, residents were unable to attain equity to allow their children and grandchildren to become homeowners. Redlining resulted in a large disparity in homeownership and an increased wealth gap between whites and various racial and ethnic minority groups. ( Cuyahoga County, Ohio provides a salient example.) While redlined residents fell behind, white families were able to move to suburban neighborhoods deemed “desirable” on the Federal Housing Administration’s scores, resulting in increased vacancies and declining property values in predominantly black and integrated neighborhoods. Although President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act in 1968, removing racial language from federal housing policy, the effects of redlining still relegate black families to socioeconomically disadvantaged and racially segregated neighborhoods. Today, approximately 60 percent of black Americans live in places that were redlined before 1968 and have subsequently declined in value.