Redlining was an explicitly racist policy that ensured that until 1968 98 % of federally insured loans went to white Americans. It created one of largest white affirmative action programs we’ve seen and is a direct cause of the devastating black/white wealth gap.
Redlining entrenched housing segregation because it also discouraged lenders from loaning in racially mixed neighborhoods, meaning that even if white people did not mind living in integrated areas their property values went down and they could not get home loans.
So, it was redlining that led to the racist belief that if black people move into an area property values decline because thanks to this government-initiated practice of denying home loans in black or mixed areas, black people did have negative impact on home prices.
The impact of redlining is still felt, the harms still devastate, as identifical homes in black neighborhoods are worth less than those in white neighborhoods, black people were pushed into predatory loans, and entire communities face generational disinvestment. I’m disgusted.
