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Buchanan v. Warley
In 1917, the Supreme Court ruled that ordinances that prevented minorities from buying homes in white neighborhoods were in violation of the 14th amendment after William Warley attempted to purchase property in Louisville, Kentucky, but was blocked from the neighborhood. However this ruling did not prohibit covenants, which were agreements between property owners to not sell to minorities. These practices continued all the way until 1948, when they were outlawed. -
Richard T. Ely
In 1920, Richard T. Ely wrote about how neighborhoods should be segregated by race, because he theorized that mixing communities would cause violence and unrest between disagreeing racial groups. His writing is was used as a base to justify future federal housing acts deciding to segregate communities. His theory also influenced many banks and organizations to restrict loans in a way to keep people separate, which led to the redlining practice in later years. -
Corrigan v. Buckley
In 1926, the Supreme Court ruled that racially restrictive covenants were not in violation of the constitution. This meant that homeowners could agree to add a clause in the deed of their homes that would not allow the selling of the home to racial minorities, which would keep neighborhoods segregated. This ruling would protect covenants until 1948, which left many cities with racially divided neighborhoods, that can still be seen to this day. -
New Public Housing Projects
In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted new deal reforms and public housing projects to combat the economic situation of the great depression. However these projects encouraged the segregation of neighborhoods, inspired by Ely's theory. These projects foreshadowed and set up the future issue of redlining. -
J.M. Brewer's 1934 Map of Philidelphia
In 1934, appraiser J.M. Brewer made a residential map of Philadelphia, which separated neighborhoods by racial demographics. The map outlined areas that were considered safe for banks to loan to, while minority neighborhoods were often marked as high risk. This map is the first example redlining, which would eventually be adopted by cities nationwide. -
National Housing Act of 1934
In 1934, Roosevelt signed the National Housing Act, which created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), in order to help families who were struggling to keep their properties due to the great depression. But this act would eventually be regarded as "state sponsored segregation" because of how it was mainly designed to benefit the lower middle class, which left out the majority of struggling African-Americans, who were instead forced into urban housing projects. -
HOLC creates residential security maps
In 1935, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, created as part of the Housing Act of 1934, had the Home Owner's Loan Corporation create residential security maps for 239 cities in America to define which areas were low and high risk to give loans to. Almost all minority neighborhoods were labeled as high risk, which made it nearly impossible to secure a home loan for people in those areas, at a time when it was needed most. Because of this, many people there were forced to live in poverty. -
Housing Act of 1937
In 1937, the Housing Act of 1934 was expanded to help more low income families through the great depression. However it was decided that the public subsidized housing neighborhoods would be separated by race, which further segregated American cities. On top of that, the act increased funding for FHA home loans, that continued to mainly only service white neighborhoods. -
G.I. Bill
In 1944, the G.I. Bill was passed to help financially support returning WWII veterans. The bill helped pay for mortgages and education, and is credited with helping spur America's economic boom after the war. However, the bill disproportionately helped white Americans compared to black Americans. Because there was still a lot of racial discrimination when giving out mortgages and student loans, many people were not able to take advantage of the bill, and were effectively left behind. -
Levittown Begins Construction
In 1947, Levittown began construction as the first mass produced suburb in America. Homes cost as low as $8,000, equivalent to $92,000 today. It provided high standards of living for thousands of people, and became a symbol of the American Dream. However, the decision was made during construction to only allow whites to buy homes in Levittown. Black Americans were barred from this new way of life, and were forced into overcrowded, declining urban areas, further segregating the country. -
Shelley V Kraemer
In 1948, the Shelley family purchased a home in St.Louis, unaware that it had a covenant that prohibited non-whites to live in the neighborhood. A neighbor, Louis Kraemer sued to prevent the transaction. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, which ruled that while racial covenants are legal because they are private agreements, they cannot be legally enforced, which effectively made the agreements useless. This case was one of the first steps towards desegregating American cities. -
1949 Housing Act
In 1949, another housing act was passed to help struggling families. But this act explicitly stated that it could fund segregated housing projects. The act also encouraged families to move to suburbs, but many of these neighborhoods were still very racially restricted. White families benefited because of rising real estate value and economic stability, but left many minority families to inner city areas with decreasing property values, which contributed to the wealth gap today. -
Myers move to Levittown, PA
In 1957, the Myers family moved to Levittown, Pennsylvania, becoming the first black family to live in a Levitown suburb. The residents opposed the purchase, and continually harassed the Myers family once they moved in. for 4 years, they put up with the harassment and violence until Mr.Myers got a new job and they moved away. The event got national attention, and helped exposed the problems of racially divided neighborhoods. -
Fair Housing Act of 1968
During the civil rights movement, the issue of discriminatory neighborhoods was was brought to attention. In 1968, the Fair Housing Act was passed, which makes it unlawful to discriminate in the terms and conditions or privileges of sale of a home based on race or national origin. This act was one of the biggest events to finally desegregate American neighborhoods and cities, which helped alleviate racial inequality across the country. -
National People's Action is formed
In 1973, Gale Cincotta and Shel Trapp started the National People's Action in Chicago, with the goal of ending redlining in neighborhoods all over the country. They planned to organize enough support to pass a disclosure regulation that would require banks to reveal their lending patterns. In the future, this group would be one of the key figures in helping to pass the home mortgage disclosure act of 1975, and the community reinvestment act. -
Equal Credit Opportunity Act
In 1974, President Gerald Ford signed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which made it illegal for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant based on race or religion. The law applied to all businesses involved in credit decisions, including banks credit unions. This act was one of the most important steps that ended the practice of redlining in America. -
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975
In 1975, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act was passed, which required financial institutions to collect and reveal data about applicants and borrowers in order to identify any discrimination and enforce anti discrimination laws. The act was pushed by the National People's Movement, and was one of the one of the major acts that helped to end the practice of redlining in American Cities. -
Community Reinvestment Act
In 1977, the Community Reinvestment Act was passed which required all banks and financial institutions to have the same lending criteria in all communities. This act helped alleviate redlining, as loaners could no longer discriminate against neighborhoods deemed high risk based on race. -
Today
45 years after the community reinvestment act and other laws removed the practice of redlining, the effects can still be seen today. Redlining is often cited as one of the biggest contributors to the wealth gap, because of how inexpensive real estate was in the post war years compared to today. Families who bought their own homes in the 50s and 60s saw large increases in home value over the years, and were able to sell their homes for a much higher price than at what they bought them. -> -
Today Part 2
The money would trickle down to future generations, known as generational wealth. However families that were denied the opportunity to purchase homes were left behind, and their decedents would have a hard time purchasing homes in the future. Because of this, many cities are still very segregated, which caused minority families to have limited access to education and economic opportunities, which contributes to the fact that black families make just $57.30 for every $100 made by white families.
