The court case Brown vs. Board of Education terminated legalized segregation in school systems that were presented by the Plessy v. Ferguson case. The racial segregation that is present in schools today is because of discrimination in housing that contributes to de jure segregation. After the Great Depression, the Federal Housing Administration, FHA, was created in 1934 to help the housing industry by realigning the mortgage market. The mortgages and loans were given by the government but denied to all African-American residents. Denying this, constricted African-Americans from equality and the ability to invest in homeownership to increase their wealth. Alongside this, white families tended to leave communities that Black families moved into. Richard Rothstein, the author of The Color of Law, stated, “As the number of black families grew, the neighborhood deteriorated, and ‘white flight’ followed” (1-2). FHA along with real estate agents encouraged “white flight” by telling white people that their property value would decrease if they lived in a Black community. Leaving areas for a better property value increased white’s wealth, but significantly affected African-American’s.
The racial segregation created through the housing industry was unconstitutional and broke the 5th, 13th, and 14th Amendments because it gave white homeowners more superiority over African-Americans and institutionalized more inequality and racism. The decreased property values and lack of homeownership contribute to the wealth gap in today’s society. It also contributes to racial segregation in schools because the schools placed in Black communities have low property value and ultimately leads to no money going into property taxes and schools causing a bad school system, education, and fewer opportunities for African-American children. The inequality in the housing industry was created to encourage white supremacy and discriminate against African-Americans. This contributes to de jure segregation and exists on behalf of the segregation that the government implemented.
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