ABC57: Rebuilding after Redlining
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Driving through South Bend on Jefferson Avenue, you may be charmed by the rows of historic homes. Drive a little further... and you’ll see a different view.
Boarded up windows, rundown houses, and junk in the yards.
It’s an example of how racist redlining practices still impact the city of South Bend today.
To determine the best ways to move forward, we must understand how we got here.
Redlining is a practice stretching all the way back to the 1930’s. It was used to deny minority families, mostly black, from building or buying homes in certain neighborhoods; thus, segregating neighbors by the color of their skin.
The federal government came up with a system to give some people government-insured mortgages to prevent foreclosures during the depression.
To decide who got the money, maps were created labeling the best neighborhoods as “ethnically homogeneous” and the worst as “hazardous” where mostly black, Mexican, and other minorities lived.
That means banks wouldn’t offer mortgages to them like they did to whites in the more desirable areas.
Being forced to rent while whites in other neighborhoods easily obtained mortgages to purchase their homes made generational wealth disproportionate in the city, giving whites an advantage over blacks.
Later, The Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed redlining, but the damage had already been done, and a lot remains today.
Newly elected city councilwoman, Ophelia Gooden-Rodgers hopes to reverse some of those lasting impacts.
ABC57’s Emily Arnold spoke with local South Bend residents, who recalled what it was like to grow up amid redlining practices.
An official from The History Museum and Ophelia Gooden-Rodgers also weighed in on the heavy topic.
If you’re interested in learning more about the history and long-term impacts of redlining in our city, The History Museum in South Bend will keep its ‘Undesign the Redline’ exhibit open to the public now through July 14.
For more information, visit the museum’s website.