Comment by bodhi_mind | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bodhi_mind | Hacker News Reader

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I understand your perspective, but it's essential to consider the historical context and systemic impact of discriminatory practices such as redlining. While affirmative action aims to address the long-standing inequalities faced by marginalized communities, it's not about "robbing Peter to pay Paul."

Redlining, a discriminatory practice prevalent in the mid-1900s, systematically denied access to housing loans and opportunities to minority communities based on race. As a result, neighborhoods predominantly inhabited by minorities were deprived of investment, economic growth, and wealth accumulation. This created a cycle of limited opportunities and limited access to resources that persists today.

Over time, this has led to a significant wealth gap between racial groups. Affirmative action seeks to address this imbalance by providing opportunities for marginalized individuals to overcome historical disadvantages and achieve upward mobility.

“The proof is in the pudding” if we’re sticking with idioms. Where the evidence of systemic racism is a lack of wealth, discriminate on wealth. Where the evidence is family structure, discriminate on family structure. Address disadvantage by addressing disadvantage, not by a racial proxy.

In programmer terms, racial affirmative action is a very lossy hash of reality, which leaves a lot of room for injustice both in terms of who it helps and who it doesn’t.

You're explaining why it came about, not why it's not an evil.

As for redlining--while it certainly existed in the past I noticed something when there was a flap about it a while back. There was a very detailed article in the local newspaper about local "redlining". However, it didn't make sense--why would bankers only discriminate against black neighborhoods with low-down mortgages? If black is relevant why not all mortgages?

How about a simpler explanation that fits the facts? Something stood out to me about their map--the map of the "redlined" zip codes exactly matched an earlier article about appreciation. Suppose the bankers are looking at the chance a house ends up underwater a few years down the road? That gives no inconvenient inconsistencies in their behavior. Yes, it hurt the neighborhood but there's no racism involved, just simple economics.

> Redlining

As an aside, I’ve always been confused about the dynamics of redlining. Wouldn’t refusing to give any mortgages for a neighborhood reduce the cost of buying a house there? Is the idea that it was purchased by landlords and everyone was made to rent instead of buying? Lowering housing costs for a group generally doesn’t seem like a bad thing…

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