Systemic Racism in Housing
By Sarah Weber
It is not a secret that the housing market has created a barrier for people of color in all aspects. Throughout the Jim Crow era, legislation was enacted that both explicitly and implicitly segregated the black community when looking for housing. Although many of these laws have been repealed, the implicit effect remains leaving people of color with the challenge to find affordable housing. To understand this complex issue, it is important to look at the history of housing policy and how old policy leaves an impact on the present population.
The Great Depression marked a turning point for welfare programs in the United States. With the pressure to finally help those most burdened by the economic downturn, the federal government enacted several pieces of legislation to help. As mentioned in a previous post, these included things such as the establishment of a federal minimum wage, social security, and various housing policies. Although these programs were imperative to help low income Americans, they mostly placed an emphasis on white people.
One of the many developments from The Great Depression was the emergence of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). This federal agency was created in order to increase the ability of individuals acquiring a loan to purchase a home by creating a form of insurance for the banks (Dickerson, 2021). With the majority of Americans renting homes prior to the depression, the government needed more homeowners to stimulate the economy. However, with the present practice of segregation during this time, people of color had a more difficult time receiving a home loan from a bank. Without the availability of home loans, buying a house became extremely difficult for people of color.
One of the many ways in which people accrue wealth is through home ownership. Accumulation of assets allows for further socioeconomic mobility, however, when policies exist to inhibit home buying, this does not occur. Even non-federal policies have direct implications on the ability to buy a home. Throughout this same period of time, the emergence of red lining became a legal form of segregation. Redlining occurred when the housing market began to designate certain areas and neighborhoods as “unsafe” or “unsuitable”, resulting in few new homes being bought under these designations (Dickerson, 2021). The redlined areas were predominantly made up of people of color resulting in a lack of infrastructure updating, resources, and other things the white suburbs were seeing.
The effects of redlining can still be seen today throughout the entire United States. The systemic segregation in the housing market has resulted in a disproportionate amount of pollution, lack of socioeconomic mobility, and several other factors to affect these communities. These issues are still prominent today and are seen as modern day segregation practices.
Between redlining and several federal housing policies, the prospects of buying a home is extremely challenging for people of color both throughout history and today. This leads to the inability to accumulate wealth through home buying, hindering already stagnant socioeconomic mobility.
There is a significant need for further policy reform in order to reduce the harm that has already occurred. It is for these reasons why access to affordable housing is imperative. With this historical disadvantage, affordable housing needs continue to increase with a limited supply.
References
Dickerson, A. M. (2021, August 26). Systemic Racism and Housing. Emory Law Scholarly Commons. Retrieved August 7, 2023, from https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1435&context=elj