The Local Case for Reparations

FWIW I don't care for the title as I don't think it's a good article summary. In short, the article describes:

1. The history of redlining and how many urban areas became structurally disadvantaged when the FDR administration introduced heavy home mortgage subsidies and specifically excluded low-income and minority areas. This quickly led to a shift to the nationalized home mortgage market we have to day, and basically ended the ability to finance homes in redlined areas.

2. A path for reinvestment in these communities and the people who live there that cities could take today which would help close the wealth gap they created by redlining in the past.

It's a sensitive subject, but worth thoughtful consideration. While the HN crowd tends to be aware of such things, most Americans don't realize that (by design) local government wields most of the power in the US, and that most of the government impacts on our daily lives come from that level of Government.

Consequently most of us also don't realize how damaging the local policy changes kicked off in the FDR era have been - or even realize that the daily life most of us live (driving everywhere in the suburbs, 50' suburban lots, shopping centers with huge parking lots in front) are not organic creations of the free market, but strictly regulated creations of the local government.

To really get a handle on how this relates to racial justice issues, it's worth exploring the original redlining maps themselves, and reading how they describe the rationale for prohibiting investment in certain areas, eg: https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=13/37.772/-...