Redlining and Racial Covenants: Jim Crow of the North
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the impact of the National Housing Act and the establishment of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) during the New Deal era, which aimed to stabilize the housing market by providing long-term mortgages with fixed interest rates. However, it also led to the practice of redlining, where neighborhoods were designated based on racial occupancy, creating systemic inequality. The FHA's color-coded maps rated areas for investment, with 'red' being hazardous and 'green' the most desirable, often correlating with racial demographics. This policy not only discriminated against people of color but also enriched white communities, embedding white supremacy in the built environment and perpetuating racial inequality in housing.
Takeaways
- 🏠 The National Housing Act and the establishment of the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) in 1934 aimed to stabilize the housing market by providing long-term, fixed-rate mortgages, making homeownership accessible to many Americans.
- 📈 The HOLC's underwriting practices involved color-coded maps that categorized neighborhoods into four risk categories, which inadvertently led to the practice of redlining and perpetuated racial segregation in housing.
- 🔴 The term 'redlining' originated from the HOLC's practice of marking 'hazardous' neighborhoods in red on their maps, often correlating these areas with non-white populations.
- 🏢 The FHA's racialized spatial valuation system deemed areas with predominantly African-American or minority populations as less desirable, reinforcing racial disparities in housing opportunities.
- 📉 There was no factual basis linking racial occupancy to higher loan defaults; the FHA's practices were rooted in racial bias rather than economic reality.
- 💼 Racial covenants, which restricted property ownership to white individuals, were promoted by the FHA as a means to increase property values and reinforce white wealth.
- 🚫 The practice of redlining institutionalized racial segregation and led to the widespread implementation of racial covenants, affecting housing policies and urban development.
- 🚧 The refusal to integrate Minneapolis and the concentration of public housing in specific areas led to the creation of urban poverty and reinforced racial and economic segregation.
- 🏢 The City Council of Minneapolis' decision to concentrate public housing units in one area, rather than scattering them, contributed to the creation of a concentrated area of poverty and limited housing opportunities for low-income families of color.
- 🏡 The historical context of racial covenants and redlining has had a lasting impact on the inheritance of wealth and opportunities for families of color, perpetuating systemic inequality.
Q & A
What was the impact of the National Housing Act on homeownership in the United States?
-The National Housing Act, particularly through the establishment of the FHA, made homeownership more accessible to middle-class and working-class families by offering long-term mortgages with fixed interest rates, thus reducing risk for banks and placing it on the federal government.
What is 'redlining' and how did it originate?
-Redlining refers to the discriminatory practice of denying financial services, such as mortgages, to residents of certain areas based on the racial or ethnic composition of those neighborhoods. It originated in the 1930s when the FHA created color-coded maps to designate neighborhoods for mortgage lending, with 'red' areas being considered hazardous and often associated with non-white populations.
How did the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) contribute to racial segregation in housing?
-The HOLC contributed to racial segregation by establishing designations for neighborhoods based on the occupants, which led to the practice of redlining. Areas with predominantly African-American or minority populations were often given lower ratings, making it difficult for residents to secure mortgages and reinforcing racial boundaries.
What were the four color-coded areas used by the FHA to rank neighborhoods, and what did each color signify?
-The FHA used four colors to rank neighborhoods: red (hazardous), yellow (definitely declining), blue (still desirable), and green (best). These colors were used to indicate the level of risk associated with lending in those areas, with red being the highest risk and green the lowest.
What was the role of restrictive covenants in the FHA's underwriting practices?
-Restrictive covenants were agreements that prevented the sale of property to certain racial or ethnic groups. The FHA's underwriting manual indicated that areas with restrictive covenants in place were more likely to receive a green designation, which was the best rating for mortgage lending, thus rewarding racial segregation.
How did the practice of redlining affect the wealth and opportunities of different racial groups?
-Redlining led to the systematic denial of mortgage loans to non-white communities, which in turn limited their access to homeownership and the wealth accumulation associated with it. This practice contributed to the creation of urban poverty and perpetuated racial wealth disparities.
What was the significance of the 1935 land-use planning map in the context of housing policies?
-The 1935 land-use planning map was significant as it was used to determine which areas would receive mortgages and which would not. It often labeled areas with predominantly non-white populations as 'slums' or undesirable, further reinforcing racial segregation and limiting housing opportunities for these communities.
How did the creation of public housing in Minneapolis reflect the city's racial dynamics?
-The creation of public housing in Minneapolis, particularly the Sumner field homes, became a focal point of racial segregation. The city council's decision to concentrate over a thousand units of public housing in one area, rather than scattering them, was influenced by conservative politicians and suburban communities, reflecting the city's racial tensions and inequalities.
What is the connection between racial covenants and the concept of 'white supremacy' as discussed in the script?
-Racial covenants are connected to 'white supremacy' as they were designed to maintain and enrich white communities by legally restricting property ownership to white people. This practice was part of a broader system that embedded racial inequality into the built environment and perpetuated racial segregation.
How did the historical practices of redlining and racial covenants shape the personal experiences of individuals and families in Minneapolis?
-The historical practices of redlining and racial covenants shaped personal experiences by creating stark contrasts in living conditions, educational opportunities, and wealth accumulation between white and non-white communities. This led to a legacy of inequality that affected generations and continues to influence the city's racial dynamics.
Outlines
🏠 The Impact of Redlining on Homeownership
This paragraph discusses the transformative role of the National Housing Act and the establishment of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) during the New Deal era under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The HOLC aimed to stabilize the housing market by offering long-term, fixed-rate mortgages, making homeownership accessible to middle and working-class families. However, the HOLC also introduced redlining by creating color-coded maps that designated neighborhoods based on the racial composition of residents. This practice led to racial discrimination in mortgage lending, with predominantly black and brown neighborhoods being labeled as 'hazardous' or 'declining,' effectively denying them loans. The paragraph highlights the lasting impact of these policies on racial wealth disparities and the perpetuation of systemic inequality.
🏢 The Legacy of Racial Covenants and Public Housing in Minneapolis
The second paragraph delves into the personal and historical implications of racial covenants and public housing policies in Minneapolis. It recounts the experiences of different generations living in areas defined by racial covenants and the creation of public housing in 1938. The city's resistance to scattering public housing units led to the concentration of low-income housing in specific areas, exacerbating urban poverty. The paragraph also touches on the personal narrative of the speaker, whose grandparents benefited from the housing policies of the time, growing up in predominantly white, privileged neighborhoods. The speaker reflects on the unspoken exclusivity of these neighborhoods and the broader implications of such policies on the city's social and economic landscape.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡National Housing Act
💡FHA (Federal Housing Administration)
💡Redlining
💡HOLC (Home Owners' Loan Corporation)
💡Racial Covenants
💡Spatial Desirability
💡Public Housing
💡Urban Poverty
💡Segregation
💡Inequality
💡White Supremacy
Highlights
Introduction of National Housing Act insured mortgages made homeownership more accessible.
The Fair Housing Act of 1934 aimed to stabilize the housing market.
Establishment of the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) to provide long-term mortgages with fixed interest rates.
FHA underwriting of mortgages in the 1930s reduced risk for banks and increased homeownership opportunities.
HOLC's neighborhood designations based on occupants, leading to the practice of redlining.
Color-coded maps categorized neighborhoods into four areas: red (hazardous), yellow (declining), blue (desirable), and green (best).
No evidence linking racial occupancy to higher loan defaults, challenging the basis of redlining.
Racialization of space by the FHA, linking spatial desirability with racial occupancy.
Areas with predominantly African-American or minority residents were often redlined.
Racial covenants enriched white people while discriminating against people of color.
Redlining institutionalized racial covenants, spreading inequality across the country.
Myth of the North's lack of formal segregation debunked by the existence of racial covenants.
Public housing's creation in 1938 and its role in redesigning space and containing access to affordable housing.
Minneapolis City Council's refusal to scatter public housing units outside of Sumner field homes area in 1953.
Strategic manufacturing of urban poverty through concentrated public housing.
Personal narrative of the impact of racial covenants and redlining on the speaker's family.
The importance of understanding the landscape of privilege and disenfranchisement in housing history.
Transcripts
and now through the use of a National
Housing Act insured mortgage is brought
within the reach of all citizens on a
monthly payment and amidst the New Deal
when the FDR administration is looking
for ways to try to stabilize the housing
market the Fair Housing Act has passed
in 1934 and as part of that the home
owners Loan Corporation is also
established with the hope that if you
could establish long term mortgages with
fixed interest rates you could create
pathways to homeownership for most
Americans when they now spending for
rent when the FHA starts underwriting
mortgages in the 1930s this really is a
game changer in a lot of ways it takes a
lot of risk off the banks it places it
on to the federal government and now
working-class middle-class families
they're able to purchase a home
unfortunately as part of that which what
the holc does is it establishes
designations for neighborhoods based on
the occupants of those neighborhoods and
this is where the term redlining comes
into place
the FHA they made color-coded maps of
all the largest cities in the United
States and they broke cities down into
four different areas red is considered
hazardous that's the worst
yellow is considered definitely
declining blue is considered still
desirable and green is considered the
best and what's so powerful about this
kind of scale of measuring investment it
was about values at people the fact that
matter is that there was no evidence
that those people who lived in those
communities predominantly black and
brown people informed more people would
have defaulted on loans there are no
firm realities behind the close
proximity to blackness in your property
values going down that's just not true
the FHA is being very upfront and very
explicit in how they're linking spacial
desirability with racial occupancy it's
this racialization space idea so areas
that were predominantly african-american
or majority minority or really in a lot
of cases even if there's a few non-white
people there that's often enough to be
redlined so when they built these maps
they also explained why each area got
the ranking it did the area around 4,000
new south which is called old South Side
this was a nice area it had nice homes
it's the historic african-american
neighborhood on the south side of
Minneapolis this one part of South
Minneapolis was red lined specifically
due to am quoting a gradual infiltration
of Negroes in Asiatics the FHA refused
to give an area a green lined
designation again this is the best
designation that they'll go offer unless
and I'm quoting again restrictive
covenants are already in place that
lines from the FHA underwriting manual
racial covenants aren't just about
discriminating against people of color
it's about enriching white people and I
think that's the part that often gets
lost in this narrative and I think it
does speak to the ways that white
supremacy have been embedded and really
built structures and built environments
I mean if your grandparents bought a
home on Minnehaha Creek you know that
homes worth what half million your
grandparents rented an area that was
redlined and then subsequently destroyed
by a freeway project
you're not inheriting anything
in a lot of ways the practice of
redlining which didn't start until the
1930s institutionalized and spread
racial covenants all over the country
because suddenly developers got
sanctioned they got direction from the
federal government saying this is best
practices if you want to have a really
high rating from us if you want to get
the most favorable terms for any loans
by kind of D integrating Minneapolis
which in any ways is what racial
covenants are doing this set the stage
and enabled all these subsequent systems
of inequality to really take and to
really take hold this very persistent
myth that northern cities never had
formal segregation the South had Jim
Crow and look at those signs
well racial covenants did the work of
Jim Crow in in the north all over the
north
many many whites simply were not aware
that there was a segregation
[Music]
so many people in Minneapolis to be
outraged what they thought that their
friend was being discriminated against
they knew something was happening but it
wasn't happening to your friend that was
what kind of a this next kind of a
situation that we had in Minneapolis I
didn't when if you could imagine at
least people their parents sent me
cookies and you know cakes all during
the war and I was I was welcome in their
house there was no question about it and
then there's other people who were just
absolutely Klansmen you know that was
what Minneapolis was all about but that
was the young that was my generation in
Minneapolis we were hemmed in in that
that ghetto and that was that was our
life that was her that was her work the
1935 land-use planning map used to
define which place would get mortgages
versus others circled these areas called
them slums places rather than clinical
Negroes lived is there places to avoid
right so they're going to give you
substandard housing and I gotta contain
you access to affordable housing was a
challenge and you think about the
reasons behind the creation of public
housing we had a lot of folks forced to
the low-wage sector all right and you're
thinking about what jobs or
opportunities that low-income folks of
color even had access to at this time
you know I would argue that with the
creation of public housing in 1938 the
Summoner filled homes became this really
interesting iteration of the redesign of
space you have 400 units of public
housing which were segregated at the
time created in 1953 the City Council of
Minneapolis refused to scatter another
thousand units of public housing outside
of the Sumner field homes area and where
do these pressures come from you've had
both internal conservative politicians
and outlying suburban communities coming
in saying not in my neighborhood and the
City Council crumbled under the pressure
and then took what was 400 units of
public housing to over a thousand units
and
less than a decade they have
strategically manufactured urban poverty
[Music]
this history is is very personal for me
I'm a third generation mini a Politan my
grandparents were immigrants from Sweden
who came to this country with nothing
you know worked incredibly hard jobs but
both sets of my grandparents in 1942
were able to buy houses in south
Minneapolis these houses were in a part
of the city that was blanketed by racial
covenants because of those racial
covenants Mike my parents grew up in
neighborhoods that were entirely white
and and in many ways they described them
as as a paradise for children they had
wonderful parks they had really solid
schools that sent them to college but no
one in their neighborhood ever talked
about the fact that this neighborhood
was only for white people and I want
everyone with this map to imagine
themselves in this landscape of
privilege and disenfranchisement
[Music]
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