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Collage of a residential security map.

The Lasting Legacy Of Redlining

We looked at 138 formerly redlined cities and found most were still segregated — just like they were designed to be.
by Ryan Best, Elena Mejía via FiveThirtyEight on February 9, 2022
1935 redlining map of the cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls in Rhode Island.

Reporting on Redlining: An Interview with Scott Markley

How can historic data about segregation, redlining, and real estate be more accessible? In this interview, we dive into a new data set derived from HOLC maps.
by Ian Spangler, Scott Markley via Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center on January 23, 2022
A Black man sits at his dining room looking through property records

Racial Covenants, a Relic of the Past, Are Still on the Books Across the Country

Racial covenants made it illegal for Black people to live in white neighborhoods. Now they're illegal, but you may still have one on your home's deed.
by Natalie Y. Moore via NPR on November 17, 2021
Residential Security map of central Chicago, sourced from "Mapping Inequality"

How Academia Laid the Groundwork for Redlining

The connections between private industry and government were much more fluid than was previously imagined.
by LaDale Winling, Todd Michney via Platform on November 1, 2021
A black and white photo of new suburban homes, 1963.

When Real Estate Agents Led the Fight Against Fair Housing

A new book argues that the real estate industry’s campaign to defend housing segregation still echoes in today’s politics.
by Gene Slater, Patrick Sisson via CityLab on September 28, 2021
Demonstrators outside the New York City offices of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Aug. 31.
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The Supreme Court Ended The Eviction Ban But Not The Fight Against Evictions

Historically, the failures and limitations of federal policy have emboldened activists.
by Maia Silber via Made by History on September 9, 2021
Highway being built in Louisiana

What It Looks Like to Reconnect Black Communities Torn Apart by Highways

Take any major American city and you’re likely to find a historically Black neighborhood demolished, or cut off from the rest of the city by a highway.
by Laura Bliss, Pablo Robles, Rachael Dottle via Bloomberg on July 28, 2021
Haiti Building at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, 1893. Photo courtesy of the Chicago History Museum.

The Chicago Fire of 1874 and the World’s Columbian Exposition Led to the Formation of the Black Belt

The fire of 1874 destroyed more than 80% of Black-owned property in Chicago. But Black people persisted and built vital cultural traditions and institutions.
by Tonia Hill via The TRiiBE on July 7, 2021
Ariel view of Hlll District over the years

A Black Vision for Development, in the Birthplace of Urban Renewal

Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District was razed by the federal government 65 years ago. Now developers are testing the question of how to correct for a racist past.
by Brentin Mock via CityLab on June 24, 2021
Still from upcoming short film “Write No History” by Black Quantum Futurism, 2021.

Project: Time Capsule

Time capsules unearthed at affordable housing sites offer alternative, lost, and otherwise obscured histories.
by Camae Ayewa, Rasheedah Phillips via E-Flux on June 14, 2021
Police at the University of California at Berkeley guard the campus building where then-Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos was to speak on Feb. 1, 2017.
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The Racist Roots of Campus Policing

Campus police forces developed as part of an effort to wall off universities from Black neighborhoods.
by Eddie R. Cole via Made by History on June 2, 2021
Aerial view of the University of Chicago
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Higher Education’s Racial Reckoning Reaches Far Beyond Slavery

Universities helped buttress a racist caste system well into the 20th century.
by Davarian L. Baldwin via Made by History on April 1, 2021
Man walking though flood in Chicago

Redlined, Now Flooding

Maps of historic housing discrimination show how neighborhoods that suffered redlining in the 1930s face a far higher risk of flooding today.
by Kriston Capps, Christopher Cannon via Bloomberg on March 15, 2021
Dominique Walker, a member of Moms 4 Housing and group spokeswoman, speaking in front of City Hall

Redlining, Predatory Inclusion, and Housing Segregation

Redlining itself cannot explain this persistence of inequality in America's cities.
by Paige Glotzer via Black Perspectives on March 10, 2021
Cleo Davis and Kayin Talton Davis are artists and activists who have made it their mission to preserve and celebrate African American history in Portland. Here, their daughter, Ifetayo Davis, stands with her father and sisters outside their home.

Oregon Once Legally Banned Black People. Has the State Reconciled its Racist Past?

Oregon became ground zero of America’s racial reckoning protests last summer. But activists say it doesn’t know its own history.
by Nina Strochlic via Process: A Blog for American History on March 8, 2021
Collage of images related to Monopoly's history

The Prices on Your Monopoly Board Hold a Dark Secret

The property values of the popular game reflect a legacy of racism and inequality.
by Mary Pilon via The Atlantic on February 21, 2021
Map of Oberlin Village in Raleigh, NC.

Vanishing Neighborhoods

The fate of Raleigh's 11 missing freedman's villages.
by Heather Leah via WRAL on January 21, 2021
Residential Security Map for Fresno, CA
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How Decades of Housing Discrimination Hurts Fresno in the Pandemic

Decades of discrimination in Fresno laid the groundwork for a housing crisis today.
via Retro Report on January 15, 2021
Suburban cul de sac.

How Fear Took Over the American Suburbs

On the rise of suburban vigilantes and NIMBYs in the late 20th century and their enduring power today.
by Kyle Riismandel, Sarah Holder via CityLab on January 14, 2021
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The Lines That Shape Our Cities

Connecting present-day environmental inequalities to redlining policies of the 1930s.
by Esri via American Panorama on December 18, 2020
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Children play basketball in front of boarded-up houses in Baltimore.
Exhibit

Housing Injustice

This exhibit explores the complex legacies of redlining, urban renewal, and financial deregulation to explain the persistence – and costs – of residential segregation today.

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