The Past Is Still Present

As a part of the New Deal, the government created the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) to deal with the housing crisis worsened by the Great Depression. As part of its plan to provide more housing, HOLC created a map of nearly 200, including Cleveland, cities across the country that appraised which areas were ‘safe’ or ‘risky’ areas to give out housing loans to (Jackson, 2021). Neighborhoods were rated on an A - D scale. A’s were the best, while D’s were hazardous. As a part of the assessment was the racial and ethnic makeup of the area. White-majority areas were given A’s, while Black-majority areas were given D’s. This created what we call “redlining” (Jackson, 2021).

Each district would be rated for its quality, and be given a description of its features. Following is a quote from a 1939 HOLC write-up about D18. This area is on the east side of Cleveland Ohio, and ranges from Woodland - 55th St .

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“Concentration of negro population in this area is the heaviest in the city. The area is characterized by its heavy relief rolls, high disease and mortality rate, crime, and unemployment. This is the most undesirable area in entire city.” (Nelson, “Mapping Inequality,”).

Black-owned homes in redlined Cleveland neighborhoods were considered a “poor investment”, and their house values tanked (Jackson, 2021). White buyers were directed by real estate agents to A’s or B’s neighborhoods, while Black buyers were directed to D’s. This practice of racial discrimination in housing continued for decades until the 1968 passage of the Fair Housing Act, where racial segregation in housing was prohibited (Gross, 2017).

Although the legal practice of redlining was abolished, a closer look at modern demographics in historically-redlined Cleveland Ohiotells a story about the generational ramifications of past racial discrimination.

Combining the Cleveland 1938 HOLC redline map with a Cleveland 2018 map of home value/median income, one discovers a surprising result. While the legal practice of redlining is gone, the impacts remain very real. 

Houses in historically low-rated zones remain areas of low real estate value, while houses in historically high-rated zones remain areas of high real estate value. One explanation of this effect can be generational wealth, or the idea that families who have wealth will pass on that wealth to their children, while families with little wealth will have nothing to pass on to their children (Gross, 2017).

Even though the spatial proximity of these neighborhoods is very close, the situations are stark. High-income areas have better access to healthcare, fresh food, and more funded education. (Gross, 2017).

Historically redlined areas in Cleveland are disproportionately more populated by racial (a term used to separate people into groups based on perceived physical differences, however having no biological basis) and ethnic (a term used to generalize people sharing a similar culture or heritage) minorities, as well as those in a lower socioeconomic class (a term used to separate people based on their level of wealth and status) (Mejía, 2022). 

The distribution of these groups remains unequal today, remaining closely living in proximity to “D” rated areas.

My reaction to this finding is one of disappointment, but not of surprise. Racial discrimination has a long history in this country. Although legally there have been leaps and bounds in improving equality, it will take time and effort for our culture and economic institutions to catch up. Tying this back to what we have learned in class, I thought that it was noteworthy how influential the political structure/the state had on the human geography of the area. It was because of government involvement that redline districts were created in the first place.