Redlining in the United States of America

Redlining in the United States of America

Redlining can be described as a process whereby banks, real estate lenders and other organizations refuse to provide mortgages or even offer housing loans for worse rates to customers within specific neighborhoods depending on their race as well as ethnic construction. Redlining is considered to be one of the most comprehensive exemplars of institutionalized racism within the history of the United States of America. Despite having strong credit qualifications that would permit any individual mortgages or housing loans, African Americans were denied mortgages and even also loans of building improvement to the current proprietor within designated areas. Although the practice of redlining tends to be formally outlawed with the passing of the Fair House Act in 1968, it continues to exist in the present time in various forms. The term redline happens to be also applied where most considerable supermarkets neglect low-income communities, thus leaving individuals within the designated areas with limited access to quality and affordable food products.

Redlining and Shaping Communities

Redlining involved the act of outlining regions with sizeable African Americans demographic with red ink within maps to be a precaution measure to banks, insurance companies, and mortgage lenders. Redlining resulted in the effective isolation of African Americans in certain areas that would happen to undergo low levels of investments compared to their white counterparts. Green and Blue inks were used to mark regions that were considered to be suitable investments in which the majority of the populations were white people, while the yellow ink was used to mark risky investment regions whereby it bordered white and black people. The redlining policy resulted in a lot of white communities fleeing when African Americans moved in, which led to segregation, thus defining America within the given period. Segregation significantly cost cities a substantial amount of actual money and investments, which led to the increase of poverty and violence within regions that were redlined, and the consequences are still visible to date in America.

The effects of redlining go far beyond the individual families who happened to have been denied loans depending on their racial composition within their neighborhoods. Numerous neighborhoods that were marked red or yellow color by Home Owner’s Loan Corporation happens to remain underserved as well as underdeveloped compared to the ones that were marked blue or green neighborhoods in which primarily consisted of white populations.

How Redlining Affects Low-Income Communities

Currently, about 60% of African Americans live within areas that happened to have been redlined before 1968, whereby the given regions have significantly reduced in value. The existing localized comparisons indicate that most cities that suffered the consequences of redlining are currently facing more segregation, they are economically disadvantaged, and they tend to have higher numbers of colored and minority communities compared to other cities. Also, the minority group within redlined areas currently have lower house values, medium to lower household income, stock for older housing, and also rents, which are considered to be lower in absolute terms. For most individuals living within neighborhoods that were once redlined happened to have been sent through financial spirals through predatory lending. Henceforth, leading to neighborhoods that were marked yellow and red to remain in poverty, whereby the despair of the consequences are being showcased by the swift nature of increased gentrification that individuals are currently witnessing within the United States of America. For individuals who managed to sustain their houses over the years happened to have found themselves exploited by organizations that would offer less value compared to the market value to get the homes, decorate them and rent the homes out extremely high fees.

The history of redlining led not only to poverty among the disadvantaged individuals but also to a host of related social and economic conditions amongst them being education and the upcoming generation. The redlining resulted in segregation among the neighborhoods that were significantly affected, leading to black children attending schools that are segregated within the given neighborhoods leading to a generation that promotes segregation. Also, schools within the affected neighborhoods received a limited amount of funding since the potential investors within redlined regions had fled hence leading to children to be provided with poor quality education, which is still observed to date within the selected neighborhoods.

Bridging the Gap of Redlining

Homeownership is frequently considered as the single, most essential building block towards accumulating wealth as well as the backbone in actualizing the American dream. Most African Americans and other minority groups who suffered the history of redlining may find it to be a challenge to achieve the dream of becoming house owners due to the increased poverty that was subjected to them by their forefathers. Federal, as well as State policies, should offer resources to assist low-income families in their quest to purchasing a home, whereby it will substantially support families in accumulating wealth and also establish stable communities within the United States of America. Individuals that happen to be born in families that convey little to no wealth are usually confined within the low end of the distribution of wealth for the better part of their lives. The substantial financial investment to all the children that happen to be born within low earning families is an ideal policy instrument for ensuring that the gap of wealth created by redlining has been bridged. To address the existing income inequality that was as a result of redlining, the federal government must see that they implement the progressive tax reform concerning income and wealth. Individuals that were affected by redlining struggle to earn a living within the devastating economy hence lacking the ability to secure saving on accruing wealth. Increasing household taxes for top-earning individuals is essential since the accumulated value through taxation would be distributed to various investment programs that will elevate the low-income workers’ wealth.

Conclusion

Avoiding the existence of racial history within the United States of America tends to be pervasive, and various people are making sure the tenacity of the given avoidance for the succeeding generation. For the concerned public and policymakers, recognizing the influence of racial history is an essential step since acknowledging the various impacts of redlining is the bedrock of recognizing that aggressive and oppressive policies not only affect the current generation but also have a substantial impact on the subsequent ones. If policymakers do not fulfill their obligation, the significant narrowing of the wealth gap, providing equal social and economic opportunities, and ending the oppression of African Americans would remain a distant and unachievable goal.