Rights & liberties
redlining
Denying loans, insurance, or services to neighborhoods because of their racial composition. Federal maps did it explicitly from the 1930s; it is now unlawful.
In full
Home Owners' Loan Corporation maps graded neighborhoods and marked Black ones in red as hazardous, steering federally backed mortgage lending away from them for decades. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 made the practice unlawful and required lending disclosure. Modern enforcement targets its algorithmic and geographic descendants.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.