The Redlining Factor

De facto segregation existed in most American cities during the dark days of Jim Crow with the effects felt today.

It involved, for the most part, a separation of black and white Americans, based on customs, choice, or institutional racism rather than law and upheld by those in power with harsh penalties for anyone who dared defy the system.

Redlining played a major role by denying African Americans the right to buy a home wherever they chose. It kept blacks confined to a particular area as lending institutions refused to approve mortgages for them in affluent or white neighborhoods. Black homeowners were also prevented from getting home improvement loans, and the value of property was often deflated when they tried to sell or move up the social ladder. It was common practice in the North as a covert form of discrimination with federal backing. Southern whites relied on overt measures to keep blacks out of their communities, such as lynching, physical assaults, intimidation, and death. 

In many instances, redlining resulted in ghettos or poor inner-city neighborhoods. The value of homes often plummeted as homeowners found it difficult to borrow money for upkeep, sometimes following prey to shady loan deals or rent-to-own schemes. Also, African Americans who were lucky relocated to the suburbs, leaving behind the less fortunate. As a result, black students attended segregated schools before being bused to areas less welcoming. In later years, food deserts developed as once proud bodegas and corner markets closed their doors and chain stores and strip malls avoided the areas. It was common practice across the country in so-called blighted communities.

Lastly, De facto segregation, strengthened by redlining, impacted rural areas particularly hard. In the 1970s, an African American businessman and future mayor of a predominantly black community in Southwest Georgia went on the local radio station to voice concerns about how the black neighborhoods were less developed than the white ones.  Many needed tree-lined streets and paved roads, which made driving difficult, and were built without sidewalks, parks, or streetlights for safety. To add insult to injury, older homes lacked indoor plumbing with outhouses in the back.  

As a result, a law was passed that mandated homes within the city limits be equipped with an indoor toilet, sink, and bathtub. Landlords often attached small rooms to the back of older homes. They could be entered from inside or the back porch. The dirt roads disappeared during the Funk and Disco era, but the sidewalks never materialized.