Race and... HOUSING
(From Red Summer to Redlining)
Stephanie Allen
Kiyoshi Carter
Katie Dukes
How do you know
you're in a "bad" part of town?
What does it look like?
How is it different from other parts of town?
WHy are communities segregated?
Is it de facto or de jure segregation?
(By choice or by law?)
Red Summer
Let's see the effects of de facto segregation in Chicago, 1919.
[Watch 25:50 - 33:08 of America: The Story of Us - Boom]
Chicago was segregated not by local law,
but by Racially restrictive covenants...
Sounds unconstitutional, right?
Well...
Racially restrictive covenants
are contract agreements
that prohibit the purchase, lease, or occupation
of a piece of land by people of a specific race.
Buchanan v. Warley, 1917
Supreme Court outlawed
Government instituted
racial segregation
in residential areas
After this decision, private racially restrictive covenants
became more popular among Northern whites in reaction to
the Great Migration of African Americans from the South.
Corrigan v. Buckley, 1926
Supreme COurt upheld the right
of private citizens to enter into racially restrictive covenants
If individuals attached a racially restrictive covenant
to the deed for their property,
not only would that prevent a black person from purchasing it, but no one who
ever purchased the property
would be permitted to sell it to a black person.
This was now 100% constitutional, so more white people did it.
A typical covenant
included the following:
“…hereafter no part of said property or any portion thereof shall be…occupied by ay person not of the Caucasian race, it being intended hereby to restrict the use of said property…against occupancy as owners or tenants of any portion of said property for resident or other purposes by people of the Negro or Mongolian race.”
The practice was so widespread that by 1940,
80% of property in Chicago and Los Angeles
carried restrictive covenants barring black families.
Despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Buchanan v. Warley,
During the Great Depression
The federal government began the practice of redlining
Redlining
The Federal Government refused to insure mortgages for homes in predominantly minority neighborhoods
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was created in 1934 as part of the New Deal to insure private mortgages.
As a result, banks offered mortgages at lower interest rates and smaller down payments,
but only on mortgages backed by the FHA.
When the FHA deemed a neighborhood to be a risky investment, they drew a red line around it on maps.
These redlined neighborhoods were mostly black.
Impact
what impact do you think redlining has had on black communities?
Keep in mind the story of Eugene Williams and Red Summer.