Redlining: An Unwarranted Inheritance [ Sirenity Winfield ]



Redlining: An Unwarranted Inheritance 

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The 1960s were seen as the glamour years as many sought out the preeminent American dream.  The American dream is an idea that opportunity is available to any American, who seeks to achieve their aspirations and goals. This ideal-centered family, becoming a homeowner and acquiring the means to support the family. During this time period, this ideal was displayed prominently, however, neglected for certain demographics. Imagine wanting to become a first-time homeowner you have all the qualifications needed to apply, but then are denied based on the color of your skin. Redlining was coined by sociologist John Mcknight, to describe the discriminating bank practices of classifying predominately black neighborhoods as unworthy of investment. As the discussion of the Black Gothic arises, Redlining is a prominent factor in the conversation. The Black Gothic is a genre that confines the undefined horrors that come along with being black bridging it with the Southern gothic genre. As Racial capitalism is a prominent factor in the Black Gothic, Redlining is an extended branch of this factor.


   President Franklin D. Roosevelt created a compilation of programs during the Great Depression to help the mortgage lending market as well as several other prominent issues within the United States during that time period. The Homeowner's Loan Corporation and the Federal Housing administration were projects created to provide insurance for mortgage loans. The Homeowner's Loan Corporations of the interested mortgage lenders enforced a segregated mindset, as dividing residential neighborhoods into four different grades. According to Linda Brandt, "Type A" neighborhoods, mainly affluent suburbs; blue "Type B" for "Still Desirable;" yellow "Type C" for "Declining;" and the red-outlined "Type D" that would be risky for lending” (Insider.com). Black families were unable to receive housing laws due to their proximity to the “undesirable” neighborhoods.


   The effects of redlining are extremely prevalent today, as some banks may engage in predacious lending in neighborhoods marked as off-limits. “....in the years leading up to the 2008 housing crash, mortgage lenders peddled hundreds of thousands of risky subprime loans, including "no-doc" and balloon-payment loans, on low-income borrowers. Many communities in cities like Detroit and Newark have yet to recover” (CBSnews.com). There are many cases of applicants being denied a housing loan because of their race. According to Nikitra Bailey, an executive vice president for the Center of Responsible Lending, “Bailey pointed to a 2018 investigation by the advocacy group finding that black, Latino, and Asian applicants were turned away for loans at a higher rate than whites in many U.S. cities” (CBSnews.com). Redlining is an inherited nuisance that still lingers over the heads of many African Americans looking to purchase homes. Redlining doesn’t just affect black people when it comes to homeownership but also can affect the amount of internet access received. The mayors of Jersey City and Newark are deeply concerned that minority communities facing poverty have not been receiving their share of quality internet access. Russell Brandon reported that large numbers of households, mostly renters, in Newark and Jersey City have been waiving off rights to the fiber-optic service. The mayors are now looking into whether Verizon might be deliberately contributing to the digital divide in the state” (bloomberg.com).  


Branching off the Black Gothic genre, Redlining is a prominent factor as it serves as an unwarranted nuisance of having black skin residing in the United States. Redlining although created in the 1960s still has a stronghold on African Americans today and will continue to be an extended branch of Racial Capitalism.

                                                                                                                                 

References

Mock, Brentin. “Redlining Is Alive and Well—and Evolving.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-28/eight-recent-cases-that-show-redlining-is-still-alive-and-evolving.

J., Khristopher J. Khristopher. “Redlining's Legacy: Maps Are Gone, but the Problem Hasn't Disappeared.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 12 June 2020, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/redlining-what-is-history-mike-bloomberg-comments/.

Brandt, Libertina. “How Redlining Kept Black Americans from Home Ownership Decades Ago - and Is Still Contributing to the Racial Wealth Gap Today.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 16 June 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/how-redlining-kept-black-americans-from-homeownership-and-still-does-2020-6.

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Protest for Equal Housing in the 1960s

The 1938 Homeowner’s Loan Corporation map of Brooklyn













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