Which practice contributed to segregation by restricting mortgage lending to White neighborhoods?

Which practice contributed to segregation by restricting mortgage lending to White neighborhoods?

• A. Redlining
• B. Redistricting
• C. Gentrification
• D. Urban renewal

Answer: (A)

Redlining refers to the practice where banks and lenders drew maps that labeled certain neighborhoods as high risk for mortgage lending, usually based on the racial makeup of the residents. By marking these areas as unsuitable for loans, lenders restricted or denied home purchases, refinances, and even property improvements there, while offering favorable terms in predominantly White neighborhoods. This systematic denial of credit kept investment and home ownership out of minority communities, freezing many families in place and helping to maintain racial segregation in where people could live, accumulate wealth, and access services. The other terms don’t capture this lending-policy mechanism: redistricting changes electoral boundaries, urban renewal involves officially clearing areas for redevelopment (often displacing residents), and gentrification describes socioeconomically wealthier people moving in and displacing longtime residents, but none describe the targeted denial of mortgage credit in minority neighborhoods.

Redlining refers to the practice where banks and lenders drew maps that labeled certain neighborhoods as high risk for mortgage lending, usually based on the racial makeup of the residents. By marking these areas as unsuitable for loans, lenders restricted or denied home purchases, refinances, and even property improvements there, while offering favorable terms in predominantly White neighborhoods. This systematic denial of credit kept investment and home ownership out of minority communities, freezing many families in place and helping to maintain racial segregation in where people could live, accumulate wealth, and access services. The other terms don’t capture this lending-policy mechanism: redistricting changes electoral boundaries, urban renewal involves officially clearing areas for redevelopment (often displacing residents), and gentrification describes socioeconomically wealthier people moving in and displacing longtime residents, but none describe the targeted denial of mortgage credit in minority neighborhoods.