Читать книгу Financial Adulting - Ashley Feinstein Gerstley - Страница 32

Redlining was the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) system of maps that rated neighborhoods on their perceived risk and stability. On the maps, green areas, rated A, were “homogeneous and white” while red neighborhoods, rated D, were predominantly Black. Neighborhoods with African Americans or Latinos were automatically rated D (red) and were ineligible for mortgages. The FHA used these maps for their own lending process.

Mehrsa acknowledges that the HOLC and FHA “were not creating these preferences, but reflecting the reality that white Americans preferred to live in segregated communities.”¹⁶ That said, “The FHA was unwilling to use the strength of the government and its leverage in the credit market to challenge racism.”

Redlining was just one of the many Jim Crow laws¹⁷ (a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation). Despite this history, Mehrsa believes that change is possible and that there is a lot of room for optimism around closing the gap. At the same time, many of the events mentioned were in response to progress, so she says we need to be “a little wary of celebrating before we're done.”