redline

A HOLC 1936 security map of Philadelphia showing redlining of lower income neighborhoods.^[1] Households and businesses in the red zones could not get mortgages or business loans.

Redlining is the practice of denying, or increasing the cost of services such as banking, insurance, access to jobs,^[2] access to health care,^[3] or even supermarkets^[4] to residents in certain, often racially determined,^[5] areas. The term "redlining" was coined in the late 1960s by John McKnight, a Northwestern University sociologist and community activist.^[6] It describes the practice of marking a red line on a map to delineate the area where banks would not invest; later the term was applied to discrimination against a particular group of people (usually by race or sex) no matter the geography. During the heyday of redlining, the areas most frequently discriminated against were black inner city neighborhoods. For example, in Atlanta in the 1980s, a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles by investigative reporter Bill Dedman showed that banks would often lend to lower-income whites but not to middle- or upper-income blacks.^[7] The use of blacklists is a related concept also used by redliners to keep track of groups, areas, and people that the discriminating party feels should be denied business or aid or other transactions.

Reverse redlining occurs when a lender or insurer particularly targets minority consumers, not to deny them loans or insurance, but rather to charge them more than would be charged to a similarly situated majority consumer.^[8][9]

History

Part of a series of articles on Racial segregation
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v t e

Although in the United States informal discrimination and segregation have always existed, the practice called "redlining" began with the National Housing Act of 1934, which established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).^[10] The federal government contributed to the early decay of inner city neighborhoods by withholding mortgage capital and making it difficult for these neighborhoods to attract and retain families able to purchase homes.^[11] In 1935, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) asked Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) to look at 239 cities and create "residential security maps" to indicate the level of security for real-estate investments in each surveyed city. Such maps defined many minority neighborhoods in cities as ineligible to receive financing. The maps were based on assumptions about the community, not accurate assessments of an individual's or household's ability to satisfy standard lending criteria. Since African-Americans were unwelcome in white neighborhoods, which frequently instituted racial restrictive covenants to keep them out, the policy effectively meant that blacks could not secure mortgage loans at all. At various times the practice also affected other ethnic groups, including Latinos, Asians, and Jews. The assumptions in redlining resulted in a large increase in residential racial segregation and urban decay in the United States. Urban planning historians theorize that the maps were used by private and public entities for years afterwards to deny loans to people in black communities.^[10] However, recent research has indicated that the HOLC did not redline in its own lending activities, and that the racist language reflected the bias of the private sector and experts hired to conduct the appraisals.^[12]

On the maps, the newest areas — those considered desirable for lending purposes — were outlined in blue and known as "Type A". These were typically affluent suburbs on the outskirts of cities. "Type B" neighborhoods were considered "Still Desirable", whereas older "Type C" were labeled "Declining" and outlined in yellow. "Type D" neighborhoods were outlined in red and were considered the most risky for mortgage support. These neighborhoods tended to be the older districts in the center of cities; often they were also black neighborhoods.^[10]

Some redlined maps were also created by private organizations, such as J.M. Brewer's 1934 map of Philadelphia. Private organizations created maps designed to meet the requirements of the Federal Housing Administration's underwriting manual. The lenders had to consider FHA standards if they wanted to receive FHA insurance for their loans. FHA appraisal manuals instructed banks to steer clear of areas with "inharmonious racial groups" and recommended that municipalities enact racially restrictive zoning ordinances, as well as covenants prohibiting black owners.^[13][14]

Impact

Redlining paralyzed the housing market, lowered property values and further encouraged landlord abandonment. As abandonment increased, the population density became lower. Abandoned buildings would serve as havens for drug dealing and other illegal activity.^[11]

The film Revolution '67 examines the practice of redlining that occurred in Newark, NJ in the 1960s.

Challenges

In the United States, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was passed to fight the practice. It prohibited redlining when the criteria for redlining are based on race, religion, gender, familial status, disability, or ethnic origin. The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity was tasked with administering and enforcing this law. Anyone who suspects that their neighborhood has been redlined is able to file a housing discrimination complaint. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 further required banks to apply the same lending criteria in all communities.^[15] Although open redlining was made illegal in the 70s through community reinvestment legislation, the practice may have continued in less overt ways.^[11] AIDS activists allege redlining of health insurance against the LGBT community in response to the AIDS crisis, though no evidence exists to support this claim.^{[16][dubious – discuss]}

ShoreBank, a community-development bank in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, was a part of the private-sector fight against redlining.^[17] Founded in 1973, ShoreBank sought to combat racist lending practices in Chicago's African-American communities by providing financial services, especially mortgage loans, to local residents.^[18] Many sources characterize ShoreBank's efforts as overwhelmingly inspirational and successful.^[19] In a 1992 speech, then-Presidential candidate Bill Clinton called ShoreBank "the most important bank in America."^[17] On August 20, 2010, the bank was declared insolvent, closed by regulators and most its assets were acquired by Urban Partnership Bank.

Current issues

Dan Immergluck writes that in 2002 small businesses in black neighborhoods still received fewer loans, even after accounting for business density, business size, industrial mix, neighborhood income, and the credit quality of local businesses.^[20] Gregory D. Squires wrote in 2003 that it is clear that race has long affected and continues to affect the policies and practices of the insurance industry.^[21] Workers living in American inner cities have a harder time finding jobs than suburban workers.^[22] Redlining has helped preserve segregated living patterns for blacks and whites in the United States, because discrimination motivated by prejudice is often contingent on the racial composition of neighborhoods where the loan is sought and the race of the applicant. Lending institutions such as Wells Fargo have been shown to treat black mortgage applicants differently when they are buying homes in white neighborhoods than when buying homes in black neighborhoods.^[8][9][23]

Mortgages

Reverse redlining occurs when a lender or insurer particularly targets minority consumers, not to deny them loans or insurance, but rather to charge them more than would be charged to a similarly situated majority consumer, specifically marketing the most expensive and onerous loan products. These communities had largely been ignored by most lenders just a couple decades earlier. However these same financial institutions in the 2000s saw black communities as fertile ground for subprime mortgages. Wells Fargo for instance partnered with churches in black communities, where the pastor would deliver "wealth buildling" seminars in their sermons, and the bank would make a donation to the church in return for every new mortgage application. There was pressure on both sides, as working-class blacks wanted a part of the nation’s home-owning trend.^[8][9]

A survey of two districts of similar incomes, one being largely white and the other largely black, found that branches in the black community offered largely subprime loans and almost no prime loans. Studies found out that high-income blacks were almost twice as likely to end up with subprime home-purchase mortgages as low-income whites. Loan officers were also apparently aware that what they were doing was exploitative, as they referred to blacks as “mud people” and to subprime lending as “ghetto loans.”^{[8][9] [24][25]} A lower savings rate and a distrust of banks stemming from a legacy of redlining may help explain why there are fewer branches in minority neighborhoods. In recent years while subprime loans were not sought out by borrowers, brokers and telemarketers actively pushed them. A majority of the loans were refinance transactions allowing homeowners to take cash out of their appreciating property or pay off credit card and other debt.^[26]

Several state attorney generals have begun investigating these practices, which may violate fair lending laws, and the NAACP have filed a class-action lawsuit charging systematic racial discrimination by more than a dozen banks.

Redlining Property Type. Other forms of redlining include the nullification of mortgage loans based on internal bank policies and procedures that fail to recognize complex property types. Co-Op and Condo Conversions in New York City are one such example. These building types are often made up of legacy rent controlled and rent stabilized units or may contain another protected class of tennant. Lenders who practice redlining often cite sponsor concentration or high rental concentration as an excuse to redline the property type. Such internal policies run counter to state and municipal laws and statutes, and are an illegal form of silent judgment on the economic and racial makeup of a building.

Retail

Retail redlining is a spatially discriminatory practice among retailers, of not serving certain areas, based on their ethnic-minority composition, rather than on economic criteria, such as the potential profitability of operating in those areas. Consequently, consumers in these areas often find themselves vulnerable because no other retailers will serve them. They may be exploited by other, often smaller, retailers who charge them higher prices and/or offer them inferior goods.^[27]

Credit cards

Credit card redlining is a spatially discriminatory practice among credit card issuers, of providing different amounts of credit to different areas, based on their ethnic-minority composition, rather than on economic criteria, such as the potential profitability of operating in those areas.^[28] Many believe policies of credit card companies such as American Express that reduce credit lines of individuals that make purchases at retailers frequented by so-called "high-risk" customers to be akin to redlining. Foreigners residing in Japan are subject to immediate rejection for all credit card applications simply based on a "foreign-sounding name", which in Japan is quite easily established, even if the person is a long-term resident or citizen of Japan.^[29]

Insurance

Racial profiling or redlining has a long history in the property-insurance industry in the United States. From a review of industry underwriting and marketing materials, court documents, and research by government agencies, industry and community groups, and academics, it is clear that race has long affected and continues to affect the policies and practices of the insurance industry.^[30] Home-insurance agents are generally able to detect the race of someone who contacts them by telephone. This information affects the services provided to those who inquire about purchasing a home-insurance policy. This type of discrimination is called linguistic profiling.^[31] There have also been concerns raised about redlining in the automotive insurance industry.^[32] Credit-based insurance scores have been shown to produce unequal results by ethnic group. The Ohio Department of Insurance currently (2011–12) allows insurance providers to utilize maps and collection of demographic data by zip code in determining insurance rates. This practice has been criticized as the state promotion of red lining practices.

Student loans

In December 2007, a class action lawsuit was brought against student loan lending giant Sallie Mae in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleging that Sallie Mae discriminated against African American and Hispanic private student loan applicants.^[33]

The case further alleged that the factors Sallie Mae used to underwrite private student loans caused a disparate impact on students attending schools with disproportionate minority populations. The suit also alleged that Sallie Mae failed to properly disclose loan terms to private student loan borrowers.

Environmental racism

Policies related to redlining and urban decay can also act as a form of environmental racism, which in turn have an impact on public health. Urban minority communities may face environmental racism in the form of parks that are smaller, less accessible and of poorer quality than those in more affluent or white areas in some cities.^[34] This may have an indirect impact on health, since young people have fewer places to play and adults have fewer opportunities for exercise.^[34]

Robert Wallace writes that the pattern of the AIDS outbreak during the '80s was affected by the outcomes of a program of "planned shrinkage" directed at African-American and Hispanic communities. It was implemented through systematic denial of municipal services, particularly fire protection resources, essential to maintain urban levels of population density and ensure community stability.^[35] Institutionalized racism affects general health care as well as the quality of AIDS health intervention and services in minority communities. The overrepresentation of minorities in various disease categories, including AIDS, is partially related to environmental racism. The national response to the AIDS epidemic in minority communities was slow during the '80s and '90s, showing an insensitivity to ethnic diversity in prevention efforts and AIDS health services.^[36]

Liquorlining

Instead of denial of services to low-income neighborhoods, sometimes the exact opposite can occur as well when it is the most lucrative option for the service providers. When those services are believed to have adverse effects on a community, that can be considered to be a form of "reverse redlining." The term "liquorlining" is sometimes used^[37] to describe high densities of liquor stores in low income and/or minority communities relative to surrounding areas. As neighborhoods decline in income, supermarkets, grocery stores, and other retail outlets move out, but liquor stores remain.^[37] However, unlike redlining, this is usually not illegal. The opposite of liquorlining is true in the city of Philadelphia, where, as in the rest of Pennsylvania, all alcoholic beverages except beer are sold by state-owned liquor stores. Many of the chain's stores in low-income urban areas are significantly smaller than those in popular suburbs, and have much more limited hours and selection. This disparity has only been apparent since circa 2005, however. Lansdowne, Pennsylvania and Chester, Pennsylvania are some of the rare suburban examples of this trend.

See also

African American portal

• Black flight
• Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
• Fair Housing Act
• Blacklist
• Blockbusting
• Computer-assisted reporting
• Community Reinvestment Act
• Cream skimming
• Housing Segregation
• Inclusionary zoning
• Mortgage Discrimination
• Planned shrinkage
• Racism
• Racial steering
• Urban renewal
• Timeline of Racial Tension in Omaha, Nebraska
• White flight

References

Footnotes

Notations

• Frederick Babcock "Neighborhood Life Cycle" theory

External links

• File a housing discrimination complaint
• Learn more about housing discrimination
• Revolution '67 - Documentary about the Newark, New Jersey race riots of 1967
• Redlining in Philadelphia. Amy Hillier, PhD
• Redlining, and Neighborhood Appraisals in Philadelphia
• Housing Policy History, NC Housing Coalition
• From 'black-balling' to 'marking': the suburban origin of redlining in Canada
• "The Color of Money": Bill Dedman received the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting in 1989 for this series of articles, which described racial discrimination in mortgage lending in the Atlanta area.
• Kozmo delivering consumer racism? Investigative probe by msnbc.com unearths first case of "cyber-redlining."
• Crossney and Bartelt 2005. Residential Security, Risk, and Race: The Home Owners' Loan Corporation and Mortgage Access in Two Cities. Urban Geography
• Crossney and Bartelt. The Legacy of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation. Housing Policy Debate.