Looking past personal prejudices, similar to sexism and homophobia, racism is systematic. It exists within societal institutions like the government, the education system, the health care system, the criminal justice system, and the work force. This results in underrepresentation of people of colour in positions of power and mistreatment of people of colour across institutions that are supposed to protect them, care for them, or teach them. Throughout Canada, Europe, and America, there are a plethora of current and past legislation that enforces discrimination within society. However, there is one standouts example of legislation that upholds a discriminatory status quo, which entirely exemplifies the implication and existence of systemic racism.
American society is notorious for its past and current mistreatment of the black community. It wasn’t until the 13th Amendment that slavery was abolished. The first slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619 and the 13th Amendment was effective in December 1865. Regardless of that abolishment, the treatment of the freed slaves only minutely changed. At the time of the 13th Amendment, the right to citizenship and the right to vote was also granted to the newly freed slaves through the 14th and 15th Amendment. Yet, the black community was still treated as second-class citizens, where they were separated from white counterparts in transportation, recreational facilities, prisons, armed forces, and schools through a series of laws passed by the Supreme Court between 1873 and 1883. The origin of the name of these laws called the Jim Crow Laws, is associated with the first performer to blacken his face and perform as a plantation slave named Jim Crow. The Jim Crow Laws were finally abolished on July 2, 1964 when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The fact that segregation was abolished in America over 50 years ago is overshadowed by the persistent prejudice that continues to disadvantage the black community. Even after segregation was abolished, a practice of systematically denying residents of certain areas services and loans arbitrarily based off of their ethnicity became commonplace. Known as redlining, policies developed by the Home Owners Loan Corporation led to disinvestment in a discriminatory pattern. HOLC was established in 1933 by the Rosevelt Administration to reduce home foreclosures. Eventually, HOLC was institutionalized in 1937 by the U.S. Housing Act, creating the Federal Housing Association. The HOLC and FHA decide which areas are fit for investment by banks, insurance companies, savings and loan associations, and other financial service companies. The zones, which had predominately black populations, were physically shaded red on maps. This caused the black communities to become severely underdeveloped, while predominately white areas that received loans were able to expand infrastructure, start small businesses, and improve their quality of life.
The disinvestment of these mainly African-American communities led to severe disrepair. Those who lived in these neighbourhoods had limited access to banks, healthcare, and groceries. However, a very important exception to this was liquor stores, which seemingly overcame the financial risk throughout these communities. Lack of businesses led to severe rates of unemployment for those who were both too poor and legally not allowed to leave the red zones. Crime quickly followed into these neighbourhoods, continuing a cycle of disinvestment even after redlining was banned. This has created a vicious poverty cycle that still defines these communities today, leading to higher rates of crime, addiction, and a lack of basic opportunity and services.
The racial discrimination expressed through mortgage lending has actively shaped the current wealth patterns of America. 3 out of the 4 communities that were redlined in the 1930’s are still struggling economically. Even after 80 years, these communities, are still mostly comprised of a minority population.
It’s as if some of these places have been trapped in the past, locking neighbourhoods into concentrated poverty,
described Jason Richardson, the director of research for the consumer advocacy group, NCRC.
Bruce Mitchell, a senior researcher for NCRC, explains that these “hazardous” red zones were made up of
Anyone who was not northern-European white
and those who weren’t white,
[were] considered to be a detraction from the value of the area.
This persistent racism set the stage for America’s severe racial wage gap. Today, white families have 10 times the net worth of black families according to the Federal Reserve. Considering that homeownership is the number one method of accumulating wealth, the effect of past policy has created a permanent underclass, largely and disproportionately represented in minority populations. Until the Fair Housing Act banned redlining in 1968, the government actively contributed to the segregation of politically black (non-white) people from white neighbourhoods by institutionalizing race-based poverty.
After 50 years of the Fair Housing Act, the effects of redlining lingers. Flint Michigan is one of many communities that still experiences extreme poverty, linked to the lack of investment over 80 years ago. Across America, 2 of the 3 neighbourhoods labelled as “hazardous,” are inhabited by mostly minorities. Cities with more “hazardous” neighbourhoods continue to face severe economic inequality, while 91% of those neighbourhoods labelled as “best” in blue, have remained middle to upper-class communities. 85% of these “best” communities are still overwhelmingly white.
Baltimore was one of the earliest cities to adopt official restrictive housing for African Americans and Jewish Americans. Nearly every area labelled “hazardous” in the 1930’s is a low or moderate income community. The exception is an area around Baltimore’s harbour, which has been completely remodelled to attract tourism. As well, close to 70% of redlined communities in Baltimore are still primarily inhabited by minorities. Even neighbourhoods that were labelled as “desirable” have become populated by low-income minorities, while the middle-class white population fled to the suburbs.
Although the practice of redlining is now illegal, minorities still experience similar problems. A 2015 study found that race played a larger role than income in mortgage lending in Baltimore. Loans are commonplace in predominantly white neighbourhoods, where banks also gave twice the amount of loans to white people than black people. A report from the Centre for Investigative Reporting found that redlining persists in 61 metro areas. Even when controlling the applicant’s income, loan amount, and neighbourhood, areas from Detroit to Tacoma discriminate against minorities according to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act’s records. Banks blame these discrepancies on the borrower’s credit score, but that claim can’t be confirmed as that information isn’t officially disclosed.
The same researchers analyzed 30 cities for gentrification, where once “hazardous” areas spiked in value between 2000 and 2010. They found that many gentrified cities that were once redlined became middle and upper class. There was also a greater influx of economic activity. While these areas were far less segregated than their counterparts, there was also far more economic disparity between the original, mostly minority population, and the newcomers. Both past and current lending discrimination reinforces economic inequality as higher income gentrifiers are able to access loans and renovate the area, while longstanding residents don’t have the capital to improve their area, often making their home unaffordable. As rent and property tax rise in the area, longtime residents are forced to relocate. While some believe gentrification is a force of desegregation, Mitchell asks,
Is it just a movement towards increased segregation in the next census period?
While many forms of discriminatory legislation in America have long since been ended, the implications are still extremely relevant. This is because the effects of slavery, segregation, and redlining transcends into physical wellness, economic opportunity, and political power. Further, discriminatory legislation has changed the social positions of minorities in American society. Through historical acts of discrimination, a status quo was created, and it is continually upheld by everyday society and institutions. Common knowledge for many people is after slavery’s and segregation’s legal status was revoked, the government no longer had a major role in the integration and development of minorities into American society. Therefore, it is viewed that issues in those communities resulted on their own. However, through redlining, the government continued to contribute to segregation within America. At many points, America became even more segregated then when segregation was legal. African Americans and other minorities were forced to remain in low income neighbourhoods because of discriminatory lending practices. The physical separation of white people from “the others,” has led to a tremendous racial division socially in modern America, while this physical separation more or less remains the same.
Poorer communities are faced with a plethora of problems in America. One example being high rates of criminal activity. Yet, the root of this problem and other problems like high rates of substance abuse, is the history of segregation and disinvestment. The lack of opportunity caused these communities to have less access to many basic needs like groceries, healthcare, and banking, yet liquor stores were able to thrive. This meant alcohol was extremely accessible. Further, in America, a portion of property taxes for each neighbourhood goes toward schooling in the area. This has caused an extreme lack of funding for schools in areas that were labelled as “hazardous.” Lack of quality education fuels the fire that is rampant poverty, as there is less opportunity for growth, leading to high dropout rates. This not only further contributes to poverty in the area, but it puts many students in at risk situations, causing some to turn to criminal activity and substance abuse. The system of using income tax of local neighbourhoods to fund schools is completely flawed, as it often causes underfunding to predominantly minority schools, further adding to oppression faced by youth in the area.
Yet, even with the discriminatory act of redlining made illegal, many cities not only continue to experience the effects of past policies, but also continue the practice in a different way. Instead of obviously separating communities into red and blue zones, cities and banks continue to disinvest for different reasons. Far too often, the disinvestment of black populations by the government is because of the high crime rates, lack of education, and other reasons associated with poverty. In a disgusting way, through legislation, segregation, and disinvestment in certain communities, poverty has become synonymous with black. This has caused a number of politicians and others in positions of power to continue the cycle of discrimination because they believe that African Americans and other minorities are more inclined to be criminals based off of superficial statistics associated with their race. These ideologies have been extremely prevalent recently considering the alarming number of innocent, unarmed black citizens being shot by police. Police brutality stems from the fact that police and average Americans make assumptions that because of their race, African Americans are more inclined to be criminals. Instead, some have been historically directed to a path of poverty that can put them more at risk; the rest is a harmful assumption made by police and citizens. Through redlining, minority populations have been separated and stereotyped. The issues in these predominantly minority populations don’t exist because the population is mostly minority. To end these severe and persistent cycles of poverty, we must dissociate poor, criminal, uneducated, and other stereotypes from minority. The truth is, minorities obviously aren’t more genetically likely to face these problems like many people seem to assume, rather, a brutal history of discrimination has caused poverty to concentrate in communities occupied by marginalized people, leading to the harmful association of poor with black.
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A Note from the Author:
I have fallen guilty to forming opinions without looking at the big picture. It is extremely easy to look at the statistics regarding these marginalized communities and cause further alienation and disenfranchisement. What is more challenging, is confronting the prejudices within our governments and dismantling this racist status quo that has stood strong for generations in North America. This example of redlining against primarily African minorities in America is strikingly similar to the experiences of indigenous Canadians. Although I don’t share these opinions, many classmates, family members, and people I interact with in my day to day life tend to blame First Nations for problems within their communities. Whether they blame inherent laziness, a desire to live off government welfare, or addiction, a plethora of Canadians seem to blame some genetic phenomenon for statistics associated with the education, health, and productivity of aboriginal peoples. Hearing those frankly offensive opinions really bothers me because instead of blaming the systematic issues on reserves caused by mistreatment and disinvestment, an obscure and easy genetic scapegoat is found. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and the extent to which the government should interfere with the First Nations of Canada is rightfully up for debate. However, blaming genetics, heritage, or ethnicity for problems in these communities is far from the truth. Rather, a brutal history of intergenerational trauma caused by oppressive legislation like the Indian Act of 1876, which existed for the sole purpose of removing the “Indian problem,” is at fault. Generations of aboriginals experienced assimilation and abuse inside these schools, which has caused addiction rates to sky rocket, while abuse has become unfortunately normalized for some aboriginal families. I believe it is unfair and unjust to not only blame these problems on aboriginals, but also force them to solve them with little to no support or resources. Unfortunately, many Canadians are willing and happy to look past this traumatic history when focusing on the problems of today. Across North America, this blissful ignorance causes harmful stereotypes to prosper. The pinnacle of this phenomenon being minorities, especially African Americans and aboriginals in Canada and the United States, being convicted more often then their white counterparts, convicted more intensely, and unjustly shot at the hands of the police who too often put racial profiling ahead a situational awareness. When forming opinions on any subject and also, while looking for solutions to problems in our society, we must always remember the many different paths we took to get to where we are today. It is vital to remember the past, but also apply it to our own decision making. When this doesn’t occur, history just repeats itself and misinterpretation runs rampant. Unfortunately, this exact misinterpretation has painted minorities as poor, lazy, and reckless across North America. It is time to not only remember this past, but recognize the current implications, so we can finally free minorities from the socioeconomic prison that is stereotyping and ignorance.