Title: America’s Legacy of Redlining - Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion – Syracuse University
Headings: America’s Legacy of Redlining: State-Sponsored Segregation and Disenfranchisement of Urban Minority Communities
America’s Legacy of Redlining: State-Sponsored Segregation and Disenfranchisement of Urban Minority Communities
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Content: The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), established as a part of Roosevelt’s New Deal, cited the poor housing market, declining public health, unemployment, and economic immobility as reasons to refuse mortgages to residents. In reality, these neighborhoods were redlined because they housed the highest numbers of “undesirable populations,” including immigrants, people of color, of the Jewish faith, and those of generally low socioeconomic status. 1 The effects of redlining remain prominent nearly a century later and continue to contribute to racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities. In the years following 1934, the repercussions of the FHA’s redlining policy only worsened. Business owners, looking for new locations, chose areas considered “safe,” while avoiding “red” zones. This brought economic growth to areas populated with middle- to upper-class white citizens, while commerce in communities of color stagnated and declined. With the dawn of affordable housing and suburban America, individuals who previously resided in the “safe” areas left cities, taking their wealth and businesses with them. The Federal Highway Act of 1956 introduced the construction of highways, which eased the burden of commuting from the suburbs into cities. These “controlled-access” expressways often intentionally ran through redlined neighborhoods but did not include intersections. Residents of the affected communities found themselves unable to utilize these new routes to resources and services located in other parts of the city.