Connecting Missing Dots

By Vivian Bui / Winter 2021

Dear Vivian,

I know you were puzzled by it every time. Every time you looked out the window of the car as it passed the different neighborhoods in Los Angeles your eyes would squint. You saw the rundown houses tightly packed together on polluted streets. On top of that, you noticed that these neighborhoods had a dense population of African Americans.  Then, you connected those two dots.

You didn’t understand why these neighborhoods were typically inhabited by minorities. Your parents were able to work hard and attain better housing which included a better neighborhood, so “why can’t they?” you thought. You noticed the stark contrast between some of the neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Some neighborhoods you wouldn't mind staying and hang out in while others made you fidgety and antsy to get out. Your cousins in the car would comment on how gross these areas were. You just went along with it. You saw the correlation between African Americans living in dangerous and dirty neighborhoods and have associated African Americans with occupying slums. You’re not the only one as it adds up the same way for many people; however, there are some missing components from your calculations.

To help you see the missing dots in your picture, I would like to take you back to the expansion of American homeownership in the 1930s. To get more people to buy houses back then, the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) had mortgages with low-interest rates. The HOLC had to access the risk of the mortgages and to do this they sent out agents to make appraisals on the property. They had color-coded maps created for all the neighborhoods to help access the property value; however, the values and risk were determined by the racial composition of the neighborhood. Areas with minorities and immigrants were colored red on the map to indicate a risky and undesirable investment. Yellow areas on the map were of a third grade as it is declining to red. Blue meant that it is a still desirable area of second grade. Areas that were green were the best grade as the neighborhoods were inhabited by whites only. This led to investments flowing into areas of top-grade while the riskier areas were disinvested. This discriminatory practice of denying loans based on race became known as redlining, from the red color on the map indicating African American neighborhoods.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was also discriminatory in which mortgages they would insure. Banks would not give people of color loans, even those with good credit, because the FHA would not approve. Without the loans, housing for African Americans was more expensive than a similar house in a white neighborhood. Even housing made for African Americans did not get FHA financing, which led to it being skimpier and not as high quality as housing intended for whites. The hidden racial motivation behind the zoning ordinances couldn't be cracked down by the Supreme Court as the language on paper didn’t mention race. There simply was no proof.

An important dot missing in your picture is the ghettoization of redlined communities. A residential area would be changed to an industrial area if African Americans move in. Polluting industries, liquor stores, and nightclubs were allowed in African American neighborhoods while prohibited in white neighborhoods. These made African American neighborhoods more of a risky investment. They were unable to get loans to buy homes or fix existing ones. This led to the reinforced belief of African Americans living in slums.

Your mindset of competitive individualism shouldn’t be applied in this context as African Americans were put at a disadvantage. These people have no safety net to fall on. If you can, please look up a zoning map of Los Angeles back in the day and see how much of it has changed today. You will be surprised to see that the red zones are still inhabited by low-income families while the desirable zones hold some of the most expensive housing. An executive order was put in place to prevent any more of these discriminatory acts; however, no compensatory action was made. An important question to ask is where can these people go. They have no mobility in addition to having their area deteriorated. This vicious cycle of not getting loans, deterioration of area, and not getting loans based on low property value has put people at a disadvantage.

Sincerely,

Vivian