The Segregation Myth: Richard Rothstein Debunks an American Lie | NowThis
Summary
TLDRThe script addresses the pervasive issue of residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas, challenging the myth of 'de facto' segregation as a natural outcome. It reveals that government policies, not private actions,刻意地 created racial boundaries through public housing projects and the Federal Housing Administration's racially explicit mortgage programs. These policies not only segregated communities but also contributed to the significant racial wealth gap, as African Americans were systematically excluded from wealth-building opportunities in suburban areas, leading to lasting economic disparities.
Takeaways
- 🏠 Residential segregation is pervasive in U.S. metropolitan areas, with neighborhoods often being predominantly white or African-American.
- 🌐 The acceptance of segregation as a 'natural' part of society is a myth; it's a result of deliberate government policies.
- 🏢 Public housing was initially intended for middle and working-class families, not just the poor, and was racially segregated from its inception.
- 🛠️ During WWII, the federal government intensified segregation by building temporary housing for African Americans and more permanent housing for whites.
- 📉 In the 1950s, white public housing projects emptied while African-American projects filled, leading to the integration of projects and a decline in maintenance.
- 🏡 The Federal Housing Administration's policies actively promoted racial segregation by subsidizing white-only suburban developments.
- 💼 Developers like Levittown were required to prevent African Americans from buying or renting in their subdivisions, a policy that persists in some deeds.
- 💰 The exclusion of African Americans from suburban homeownership opportunities contributed to significant racial wealth disparities.
- 📉 The wealth gap between African Americans and whites is largely due to historical federal housing policies that have never been adequately addressed.
- 🏛️ The constitutional violation of racial segregation in housing policy has had lasting effects on racial inequalities in the U.S. today.
Q & A
What is the biggest segregation issue mentioned in the script?
-The biggest segregation issue mentioned is residential segregation in metropolitan areas across the United States, where neighborhoods are clearly divided along racial lines.
Why do people often accept residential segregation as a natural part of society?
-People often accept residential segregation as natural because it is pervasive and has become a part of the societal environment. There is a belief that it is a result of people's preferences or economic factors, rather than acknowledging it as a result of explicit government policies.
What is the national myth about residential segregation that the script discusses?
-The national myth discussed is that residential segregation is 'de facto,' meaning it happened by accident or due to private actions, rather than being created by government policies.
How did the government policies contribute to racial segregation in the United States?
-Government policies explicitly created racial boundaries through racially explicit policies, ensuring that African Americans and whites could not live near one another, which still determine the racial landscape in many cities.
What was the original purpose of public housing when it was first introduced in the United States?
-Public housing was initially intended for middle-class and working-class families during the depression. It was not for poor people, and there was no housing shortage for those who could afford to pay full rent.
How did the government's actions during World War II contribute to racial segregation?
-During World War II, the government built temporary housing for African Americans near industrial areas and more stable housing for white migrants in white residential areas, reinforcing racial segregation.
What changes occurred in public housing projects in the 1950s that led to a shift in their demographics?
-In the 1950s, white public housing projects began to have large vacancies while black projects developed long waiting lists. This led to the opening of all projects to African Americans and a decline in the ability of the public housing population to afford rent, resulting in government subsidies.
What was the role of the Federal Housing Administration in creating racial segregation?
-The Federal Housing Administration played a significant role by subsidizing the construction of single-family homes in the suburbs, explicitly for white families only, through policies that required developers to commit not to sell or rent to African Americans.
How did the policies of the Federal Housing Administration affect wealth accumulation among different racial groups?
-These policies prevented African Americans from moving into suburbs and accumulating wealth through home equity, which white families were able to do. This contributed to the significant disparity in wealth between white and African American families.
What is the current status of the racial wealth gap in the United States as mentioned in the script?
-The script states that African American wealth is on average 10% of white wealth, and this disparity is attributed to unconstitutional federal housing policies practiced in the mid-20th century that have never been remedied.
Outlines
🏠 The Myth of De Facto Segregation
The paragraph discusses the pervasive issue of residential segregation in metropolitan areas across the United States, which is often accepted as a natural part of society. The speaker challenges the national myth of de facto segregation, arguing that it is not a result of accidental or private discrimination but was intentionally created by explicit government policies. These policies were designed to establish racial boundaries and prevent African Americans and whites from living near each other. The paragraph also touches on the history of public housing, which was initially intended for middle-class families and was racially segregated from its inception. The government's actions during World War II further intensified segregation, with temporary housing for African Americans and more stable housing for white migrants, setting the stage for the racial landscape seen in cities today.
💼 Federal Policies and the Creation of Racial Wealth Gap
This paragraph delves into the role of federal housing policies in creating racial segregation and the subsequent wealth gap. It highlights a program by the Federal Housing Administration that explicitly aimed to move white families into suburban homes, reinforcing racial boundaries. The policy required developers to commit to not selling or renting to African Americans, a condition that was enforceable through deeds. This practice, along with the exclusion of African Americans from these subsidized housing opportunities, has had a lasting impact on wealth accumulation. The speaker contrasts the ability of white families to build equity and pass on wealth with the lack of such opportunities for African Americans, resulting in a significant racial wealth gap. The paragraph concludes by linking these historical policies to the ongoing racial inequalities in income and wealth, emphasizing the unconstitutional nature of these practices and their ongoing effects on society.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Residential Segregation
💡De Facto Segregation
💡Public Housing
💡Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
💡Levittown
💡Wealth Disparity
💡Urban Areas
💡Racial Boundaries
💡Housing Shortage
💡Defense Production
💡Vertical Slums
Highlights
Residential segregation is the most pervasive form of segregation in the US, affecting the entire society.
Segregation is often accepted as a natural part of the environment rather than being challenged.
The national myth of 'de facto segregation' is a misconception; segregation was created by explicit government policies.
Public housing was initially intended for middle and working-class families, not just the poor.
Federal agencies created segregated public housing, often intensifying racial divisions.
During WWII, the government's housing policies aimed to temporarily house African Americans, expecting them to return South post-war.
In the 1950s, white public housing projects developed vacancies while black projects saw long waiting lists.
The federal government's response to housing imbalances led to the integration of public housing projects.
As industry left cities, public housing residents could no longer afford rent, leading to government subsidies and declining maintenance.
The FHA program was instrumental in creating racial segregation by subsidizing white families to move to the suburbs.
Developers like Levitt were required to commit to not selling to African Americans as a condition for federal housing guarantees.
Deeds in Levittown and similar suburbs still contain clauses prohibiting resale or rental to African Americans, despite being unenforceable.
African Americans were excluded from accumulating wealth through home equity due to federal housing policies.
The racial wealth gap is a direct result of unconstitutional federal housing policies that have never been remedied.
Today, African American incomes are about 60% of white incomes, and their wealth is just 10% of white wealth.
The ongoing racial inequalities are linked to historical federal housing policies that created and maintained segregation.
Transcripts
[Music]
we've left untouched
the biggest segregation of all that
overwhelms
everything else and hangs over our
entire society and that is that every
metropolitan area in this country
is residentially segregated i've lived
in many of them
there are clearly defined areas and
everyone that i've lived in
that are all white or mostly white or
all african-american and mostly
african-american
and all of us accept this as part of the
natural environment it's not we think
it's a good thing we know we say it's
too bad
but we think it's sort of natural normal
something we accept
it's not that we've tried to do anything
about it and have failed we've never
even tried and so in order to
rationalize to ourselves our failure to
undo it
we've adopted the national myth and that
myth is pervasive
it's pervasive across the political
spectrum
the liberals and conservatives hold it
the blacks and whites
hold it the name of that myth is we have
de facto segregation
not something that was created by
government like all the other
segregations that we
undid in the 30s 40s 50s and 60s but
this is something that sort of just
happened by accident
it happened because people like to live
with each other of the same race
or it happened because private actors
whether they were real estate agents or
bankers or
private citizens discriminated in how
they sold or rented
homes or it happened because
african americans happen to be poorer
than whites on average and therefore
they can't afford to move to middle
class communities
de facto segregation is an other myth
there is no basis to it whatsoever the
racial segregation in every metropolitan
area in this country
was created by explicit racially
explicit government policy
designed to create racial boundaries
designed to ensure that
african-americans and whites could not
live near one another
with policies that are so powerful that
they still determine
the racial landscape that we see in
cities all over the country
just like we have the myth of de facto
segregation we also think we know what
public housing is
it's a place where poor people live
where lots of mothers with children
single parents with children lots of
young men without access to jobs in the
formal
economy acting out engaging in
oppositional behavior that attracts
attention to the police and a cycle of
violence that we've seen in so many
places that's what we think of as public
housing
but that's not how public housing began
in this country public housing began in
this country
as a program for middle class working
class families
during the depression poor people were
not permitted into public housing when
public housing was first created
there was a housing shortage and public
housing was created for people who could
afford to pay the full rent in housing
and they did in public housing but for
whom there was no housing available
everywhere the public works
administration and the other federal
agencies that succeeded it
created segregated public housing
separate projects for african-americans
and whites
in cities all across the country
frequently segregating neighborhoods
that hadn't previously been segregated
that were integrated
during world war ii the uh
actions of the government intensified to
create segregation
they intensified because throughout the
country hundreds of thousands of workers
flocked to centers of defense production
of war production to take jobs that
hadn't existed
during the depression and the migration
of workers into centers of defense
production
overwhelmed frequently the communities
where they were working
federal government had to build housing
for these workers if wanted the ships to
be produced
for the african americans they built the
housing on temporary housing because the
explicit
goal of the housing was that african
americans after world war ii would leave
and go back to the south so they built
temporary housing for the african
americans along the railroad tracks
near the shipyards and they built more
stable housing for the white migrants
in the white residential areas very soon
after that
without in the mid 1950s a development
occurred everywhere in the country
which was systematic similar uh
and widespread and that was that
suddenly all the white projects began to
develop large numbers of vacancies
all the black projects began to develop
long waiting lists
and soon the situation became so
untenable so conspicuous you couldn't
have projects in the same city
some of which were virtually empty and
the other of which had long waiting
lists
the federal government and local housing
agencies opened up all projects to
african americans and then at about the
same time
industry left the cities fewer and fewer
jobs became available to now
increasingly and soon
almost all african american population
in the public housing
the population could no longer afford to
pay the full cost of its rent
so the government had to begin
subsidizing public housing maintenance
declined in the projects
prior to this maintenance workers lived
in the projects they were paid
good salaries and lived in the projects
upkeep declined
the projects became vertical slums that
we came to associate with public housing
today
another federal program that was perhaps
even more powerful
in creating racial segregation and that
was a program
of the federal housing administration
designed to
move white families out of urban areas
into single-family homes in the suburbs
at a racially explicit basis we created
a white noose
around every urban area with federally
subsidized
single-family home subdivisions these
were giant subdivisions in many cases
the most famous of them i'm sure you've
heard of it as levittown
east of new york city 17 000 homes in
one place
what bank would be crazy enough to lend
a developer the money to build 17
000 homes or 15 000 homes in one place
for which he had no buyers we were in a
suburban country at that time
people thought the whole idea was lunacy
who's going to want to live in a single
family home and they can live in the
city instead
any of these developers the only way
they could get the capital to build
these giant subdivisions
was by going to the federal housing
administration submitting their plans
for the development
for approval of the construction
materials they were going to use the
architectural design
the layout of the streets in the
subdivision and an explicit commitment
not to sell a home to an
african-american
required by the federal housing
administration the federal housing
administration even required as a
condition of these guarantees
developers like levitt to place a clause
in the deed of every home
prohibiting resale to african americans
or rental to african americans
these deeds still exist in these homes
today they're no longer enforced
no longer forcible but they're still
there what was the consequence of this
well those homes in those days
uh in all of these suburbs they sold for
ten thousand dollars or less
eight thousand nine thousand dollars
apiece in today's money that's uh less
than a hundred thousand dollars probably
ninety thousand dollars
african-americans who were prohibited
prohibited
not they didn't want to not because they
didn't like living among whites they
were prohibited from moving into these
suburbs
and they could easily afford to do so
any working class family can afford to
buy a home
for 90 000 roughly twice national median
income
those homes and developments like that
now sell for 300 400
500 000 and more the white families over
the next couple of generations
uh gained you can do the arithmetic 200
300 400
half a million dollars in equity they
use that equity
to send their children to college to
take care of medical emergencies to take
care of economic downturns
most importantly to bequeath it to their
children
who then had down payments for their own
homes african americans who accumulated
none of that wealth as a result of this
federal subsidy
had none of those abilities today
nationwide african american incomes
are on average about 60 percent of white
incomes
african-american wealth today is 10 of
white wealth
that enormous disparity between a 60
income ratio and a 10 wealth ratio is
entirely attributable
to unconstitutional federal housing
policy practiced in the mid 20th century
that has never been remedied it's a
constitutional violation of course it
determines
the ongoing racial inequalities we have
today
[Music]
you
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