A Brief History of American Housing Segregation
- Lauren Fryman
- Mar 25, 2018
- 2 min read
Federal programs and policies both directly created and also perpetuated residential segregation in the United States and had lasting effects on the lives of minority groups. The Federal Housing Administration was an agency created that implemented protection for lenders from loan defaults and housing policies were implemented when millions of African Americans moved from the rural south to urban areas in the north and Midwest regions, known as the Great Migration. Many leaders in the real estate industry influenced the legislation of the Housing Act of 1934, leading to discriminatory policies and practices, and thus residential segregation. According to Fitzgerald, “In cities throughout the United States, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and lender operated on the assumption that it was best not to allow African Americans to purchase homes in white communities, and they established policies and practices to maintain racial residential segregation.” (Fitgerald, 2017, p. 309)
Redlining is one discriminatory practice of the FHA and it involved labeling predominantly black neighborhoods as risky to creditors, making African American families and individuals ineligible for federally insured mortgages. [if supportFields]><span style='mso-element: field-begin'></span>CITATION Fit171 \p 309 \l 1033 <span style='mso-element: field-separator'></span><[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif] Legislation such as the New Deal and the GI Bill also aided in the growth of suburbanization and white flight, in turn perpetuating residential segregation. Fitzgerald states, “Suburbs accounted for 83 percent of the nation’s growth in the forty years after World War II: cities witnessed declining population while the suburbs exploded.” [if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span>CITATION Fit171 \p 310 \l 1033 <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif] Even legislation that were supposed to end racial discrimination such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act in 1968 did not provide adequate protection to end residential segregation - federal mortgage insurance programs were exempt from antidiscrimination requirements and the Fair Housing Act designated that authorities couldn’t punish against these transgressions. [if supportFields]><span style='mso-element: field-begin'></span>CITATION Fit171 \p 309 \l 1033 <span style='mso-element: field-separator'></span><[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]
Bibliography
Fitgerald, K. A. (2017). Chapter 8: White Privilege: Economic Inequality and the Role of the State. In K. A. Fitzgerald, Recognizing Race and Ethnicity: Power, Privilege, and Inequality. Boulder: Westview Press.
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