AURN News with Ebony McMorris

Report Reveals Ongoing Impact of Redlining on Home Ownership

Ebony McMorris
May 29, 2024

A portion of Baltimore's so-called "Highway to Nowhere", which was designed to connect the downtown business district to interstates surrounding the city, is visible not far from Angela Bank's former residence, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, in Baltimore. In 2018, Banks was told by her landlord that Baltimore officials were buying her family's home of four decades, planning to demolish the three-story brick rowhouse to make room for an urban renewal project aimed at transforming their historically Black neighborhood. Banks and her children became homeless almost overnight. Banks filed a complaint asking federal officials to investigate whether Baltimore's redevelopment policies are perpetuating racial segregation and violating fair housing laws by disproportionately displacing Black and low-income residents. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

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A new report from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition reveals that race-based exclusion from home ownership persists despite the Fair Housing Act, which outlawed discriminatory lending practices 55 years ago.

Analyzing 40 years of home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, the study shows redlined neighborhoods received 3,000 fewer mortgages than those rated as best by historic maps, even when accounting for market factors.

The report, funded by the NIH and created with the University of Michigan, provides clear evidence linking past redlining to current public health and housing issues. It highlights the need for stronger policy measures, such as enhancements to the Community Reinvestment Act and the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rules, to address and mitigate the long-lasting effects of redlining.

Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris is a native Washingtonian and University of South Carolina alumna. Her passion is mentoring young adults by teaching community empowerment and media education. She is an NAB member and board member of the Thurgood Marshall Center and was presented the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours of community service under the Obama Administration.