The Legacy of Redlining: Examining the Lingering Impact on Communities of Color
Redlining is the insidious practice that drew a color line around neighborhoods, literally trapping generations of Americans of color in neighborhoods defined by disinvestment, segregation, and poverty. By limiting their access to quality housing, financial services, educational resources, and job opportunities, it perpetuates a cycle of poverty that is difficult to break free from. This form of systemic racism serves as a constant reminder of the inequality embedded in our society, which blocks individuals from achieving their true potential, affecting not only individuals, but entire communities. Redlining can specifically target young people of color because
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The government became involved with the concept of redlining with the National Housing Act of 1934 (Madrigal 2014). The government color coded neighborhoods based on their viewed riskiness, so green areas were the most likely to be invested in while red areas were considered undesirable for loans and investment. These red areas, which mostly consisted of Hispanic, immigrant, or black communities, were systematically denied access to mortgage, insurance, credit, loans, and other financial services. Due to banks denying resources to these neighborhoods, businesses and other investors followed their lead, creating a cycle of disinvestment. As a result of this disinvestment, the redlined communities suffered from higher unemployment rates, lower property values, and a lack of access to capital. By drawing a line around these communities, redlining not only created a series of disinvestment, but it also encouraged a cycle of poverty that is still affecting ethnic neighborhoods today. Redlining is known to limit services to ethnic neighborhoods, but there are forms of redlining that not only affect financial stability, but the health and livelihood of people of …show more content…
Education in itself has a huge impact on the development of children, but when it is combined with these other factors, it can have a detrimental effect on the mental health of youth of color. Kreisberg writes, “Identities vary in many other ways. They are self-designations and also attributions made about other persons. They can endure for generations or change with shifting situations” (2003). Identities are made up of multiple elements, including race, gender, socioeconomic status, sexuality, etc. Young people of color not only face systemic discrimination from their schools and the government, they put up with microaggressions and stereotypes from their peers and educators. These subtle types of racism can have a lasting effect on how people of color view themselves and their identity. It is commonly accepted that minorities can face systemic discrimination in terms of opportunities and education, but a topic that is typically minimized is how racism from their peers can affect the identity formation of young people of color. By growing up in a society that devalues people of color simply because of their skin, teenagers can have feelings of self-doubt and invisibility. This can result in them hating their skin color and alienating themselves from their cultural heritage, which makes it
She tried to give answer to a question i.e. “Why are the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” She answered that in late youth and early maturity; young Blacks identify the personal influence of racism and improve an identity which competes against anything White. This social identity is to protect the young Blacks from the psychological assaults of racism and to keep the White away. The author explains the procedure by which young Black children become aware of race and the risks connected with the rising in a racial society of Black children adopting negative stereotypes. This stage develops racial identity Blacks which they maintain it forever.
Both sources agree that in fact, race takes a toll on how it specifically effects the children. In Tatum’s article she highlights a part of when adolescence start to “sit together in the cafeteria” (375), it is when they get offended due to the color of their skin. She had addressed the definition of what being “black” really is and how that shouldn’t effect growing up in a very diverse school. Inevitably, it does. In Chapman and Mullis’s article they express the coping styles of adolescence, which one mechanism they are drawn to is close friends.
FHA that made RRCs an important condition of mortgage insurance continued to enact their policies to segregate white families to new and exclusive suburbs. Even after the courts prohibited explicit racial zoning, FHA believed that African American families threaten home value and their insurability. “the FHA took the position that the presence of African Americans in nearby neighborhoods was nonetheless a consideration that could threaten FHA insurability” (quoted in Making Ferguson, pp. 16). The effects of their actions of racial segregation persists even today in most neighborhoods. (Making Ferguson, pp.
A Review of Beverly Daniel Tatum's "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? "Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" by Beverly Daniel Tatum is a seminal work on race and racial identity in America. The book's major thesis is that, despite advancements in civil rights and integration, racial segregation and prejudice still exist in American culture, and this substantially impacts how young people of color establish their sense of racial identity. Tatum contends that the lack of constructive interracial encounters and the prevalence of unfavorable preconceptions and unconscious biases causes the racial hierarchy to become internalized and exacerbate racial segregation in schools and other institutions.
Redlining defines the act of refuting facilities to residents of particular areas based on the fact that these residents belong to a minority class. The white communities were rated “Green” which meant “desirable area” and the non-white communities or the ones under development, were rated “Red” which meant that these areas were non-desirable. They were redlined. This resulted in most of the benefits going to white communities and they progressed more as compared to other racial groups. Blockbusting: Blockbusting was a technique used by real estate agents to encourage white property owners to offer their homes at cheap values in the fear that families from other racial groups were moving in the neighborhood.
Beverly Tatum is an expert on minority social identity and the experiences of kids growing up searching for their identity. In Tatum’s work titled “Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” she breaks down the barriers and views of black kids growing up in a white dominated society. Tatum claims that black adolescents are labeled, grouped, and stereotyped because of their culture and race in society. She says that these kids grow up differently because of the barriers they face in schools as just young kids.
The book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? addresses the topics of racial identity, racism, and the phenomenon of self-segregation. This book is written by Beverly Daniel Tatum, a psychologist who has given presentations on “Talking to Children about Race”, “Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression”, and “Understanding Racial Identity Development”. Tatum wrote this book in hope that with the right education and willingness to understand that soon our world could change. Tantum defines racism as “a system of advantage based on race” (Tatum, 1997,pg. 22), after defining racism Tantum discusses how racism by her definition only applies to Whites.
Communities around the world face numerous challenges related to structural racism because it is ingrained in the social, economical, and political systems of society. Poverty continues to perpetuate through these communities due to income inequality, lack of access to affordable housing, and insufficient social safety nets. Dating back to the historical roots of slavery and segregation, redlining and other discriminatory practices created a very difficult lifestyle for people to thrive in. Children in these communities grow up surrounded by structural violence due to the lack of resources for their basic needs. Moreover, individuals in these communities face limited access to healthcare, education, job opportunities, as well as inadequate
Zac Chambers July 14th, 2016 Sociology 230 Final Project Rough Draft Federal Highway Act of 1956 and Black Poverty This paper will analyze the extent to which the unforeseen consequences of the 1956 Federal Highway act negatively affected minority groups in the United States Citizens, specifically black neighborhoods. Since the construction of the highways took 35 years, the focus of this report will begin with the passing of the Highway act and last until the highway’s completion (1991) in order to include the full effects of negligent planning. This paper will discuss the displacement of citizens from their homes inside the United States, and attempt to examine the remnants of redlining in the U.S. The Federal Highway Act of 1956 was passed
This practice causes a, “shortage in affordable housing,” (Stein, 2016), because black homeowners are typically steered towards risky and overpriced subprime loans and mortgages that are usually next to impossible to pay back. The end result is blacks being, “located at the bottom of the racial wealth hierarch,” (Stein, 2016), unable to have money in purchasing a house. The final effect redlining has on blacks is their home’s net worth is far less than
Despite various laws that prohibit discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing, people of color continue to face discrimination in the housing market. This form of discrimination can take many forms, including steering, redlining, and discriminatory lending practices. Despite the Fair Housing Act of 1968, racial housing discrimination
White families were allowed to have mortgages and insurance for their houses, and could even get help from the FHA if they could not afford their housing mortgage. Colored families did not have this benefit since the FHA had appraisal standards that included a whites-only requirement. They had this in place because racial segregation became a requirement of the mortgage insurance program. The FHA determined that properties that were in or near mixed or black neighborhoods were “high risk”. This meant that those neighborhoods were not allowed insurance and housing mortgages, or any help from the FHA, so if anything were to happen to their house the FHA would have nothing to do about
Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen, explains that the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States is greater than it has been in thirty years (Hilfiker & Edelman, 2002). Furthermore, every forty three seconds, a child is born into poverty (Hilfiker & Edelman, 2002, p. IX). Those citizens most affected by these realities are African Americans (Hilfiker, 2002). These people face unique hardships and oppression as compared to the rest of the population. A 1990 survey of non-black respondents found that sixty five percent of those surveyed believed that blacks were lazier than other races.
These stereotypes can potentially have a crucial effect on Asian American students’ socialization in the school system and cause them to be alienated. Students who are repeatedly rejected by peers are more susceptible to depression, loneliness, and stress ("Model Minority Stereotype", 2016). Along with the myth of “model minority”, Asian Americans also face marginalization in race relations when asked are yellow people Black or white. Okihiro says “Implicit within the question is a construct of American society that defines race relations as bipolar-between black and white- and that locates Asians somewhere along the divide between black and white” (Okihiro, 2016). This construct is shows the “history of Asians evolution from minority to majority status, or “from hardship and discrimination to become a model of self-respect and achievement in today’s America “ (Okihiro, 2016).
As educators and parents, it is important to recognize the influence of cultural and ethnic backgrounds on adolescent social identity. By creating inclusive environments that celebrate diversity and promote understanding, we can help adolescents from diverse backgrounds feel valued and supported in their identity