HUD Acknowledges Redlining's Ongoing Legacy as Homeownership Gap Persists

By 2020, the Black homeownership rate (44%) was nearly the same as in 1968 when the Fair Housing Act passed, compared to 74% for white Americans — a gap wider than before the Civil Rights Act. Research published by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition showed that 74% of neighborhoods graded 'hazardous' (redlined) in the 1930s by the HOLC remained lower-income by 2010, and 64% were majority-minority. Banks continued to be found denying mortgage applications at higher rates to Black applicants with identical financial profiles. Cities including Chicago, Baltimore, and Detroit saw persistent geographic segregation traceable to mid-20th-century redlining maps.