Title: How Redlining Continues To Shape Racial Segregation In Milwaukee | WisContext
Headings: How Redlining Continues To Shape Racial Segregation In Milwaukee
How Redlining Continues To Shape Racial Segregation In Milwaukee
1930s Lending Map Reveals The Policy Roots Of Housing Discrimination
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A New Deal-era housing policy
Redlining made segregation a reality

Content: 0; }  <p>Milwaukee is one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States, and one of segregation's most meaningful engines was the historical practice of redlining. Policies limiting the options of prospective homeowners who were people of color shaped the city for nearly a century.</p>  <p>Redlining is a term that describes the discriminatory practices of denying minority populations access to equal loan and housing opportunities. Emerging in the 1930s, redlining was embraced in the real estate industry for decades and shaped the social landscape of <a href="https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/" target="_blank">numerous American cities</a>, large and small. Indeed, the racial segregation patterns of many of cities, including Milwaukee, to this day look extremely similar to the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/28/redlining-was-banned-50-years-ago-its-still-hurting-minorities-today/" target="_blank">patterns set by redlining</a>.</p>  <p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964" target="_blank">Civil Rights Act of 1964</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Housing_Act" target="_blank">Fair Housing Act</a>, passed in 1968, made discrimination in housing opportunities based on race against the law. However, over a half-century later, racial segregation by neighborhoods remains very pronounced. Looking at the historical practice and legal structure of redlining can shed light on how residential segregation in Milwaukee was birthed and maintained, and how it informs current patterns of racial segregation.</p>  <h4>A New Deal-era housing policy</h4>  <p>In an effort to promote economic recovery during the Great Depression, the U.S. government implemented several policies throughout the 1930s. One major policy was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Housing_Act_of_1934" target="_blank">National Housing Act of 1934</a> which created the <a href="https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/fhahistory" target="_blank">Federal Housing Administration</a>. One primary goal of these efforts was to slow down the rate of housing foreclosures, which were rampant as Americans struggled to find and keep jobs during the economic depths of the Depression.</p>  <p>During this time, the FHA worked with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Owners%27_Loan_Corporation" target="_blank">Home Owners' Loan Corporation</a>, a government-sponsored lending agency known as HOLC that issued bonds to refinance mortgages for homeowners struggling to keep up. HOLC also created "residential security" maps that identified specific neighborhoods as high or low risk for investment.