why does environmental racism exist today?
The history of land usage and housing in Minnesota is largely connected to the environmental conditions in both the past and present. Environmental disparities are often rooted in the systems of racial oppression and segregation in the Twin Cities.
Redlining in THE TWIN CITIESThere is a significant racial gap between White neighborhoods and Black neighborhoods in Minnesota when it comes to environmental inequities. Much of this is due to the generational history of redlining. The concept of redlining was first coined during the Great Depression when Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) created color coded maps of over 200 cities across the United States.
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“These maps were largely driven by racial segregation, with the worst graded neighborhoods coloured in red, later termed redlined neighborhoods.”
Issam Motairek
Issam Motairek
racial covenants
The system of racial covenants was also created in the mid 1920’s. Racial covenants are restrictive clauses implemented into property deeds, to prevent people of color from obtaining or occupying land. Racial covenants enforced systems of White supremacy, handing the majority of prime properties to White residents. Although racial covenants were banned in Minnesota in 1953, systems of segregation and racial disparity became ingrained in the neighborhoods of the Twin Cities. |
“The history of covenants, redlining and homeownership helps to explain why people who are not White are more likely to suffer from housing insecurity today. People who are Black and Native American are far more likely to be unhoused than their White neighbors” (Mapping Prejudice, UMN Library).
Redlining and racial covenants severely impact residential segregation, property values, homeownership rates, wealth gap and housing insecurity. People of color in Minnesota are far more likely to suffer from housing insecurity in comparison to their White counterparts. Only 23% of Black families own their own homes in the Twin Cities, which is the largest racial homeownership gap in the nation. This disparity can be attributed to the generational systems of redlining and covenants. |
"Just because redlining isn't something we see people are actively doing, we are still stuck in that system, it's still impacting people today, and we really haven't changed our policy dramatically enough in this city. That to me is concerning. This is a crisis.”
Laura Mann Hill, Stewardship and Education Director at Friends of the Mississippi (Personal Interview)
Laura Mann Hill, Stewardship and Education Director at Friends of the Mississippi (Personal Interview)