The Role of the Federal Government
This newsfilm clip from 1967 shows Georgia state senator Leroy Johnson, Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr., and NAACP representative Dr. John P. Davis discussing the issue of segregation and federal funding for public housing. Courtesy of Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, WSB-TV newsfilm collection.
In this newsfilm clip from 1967, Atlanta NAACP representative Robert Flanagan calls for the resignation of members of the Atlanta Housing Authority. Flanagan accused the Atlanta Housing Authority of continuing segregation in public housing by implementing "freedom of choice rules." Courtesy of Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, WSB-TV newsfilm collection.
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The Georgia Consumer's Guide to Predatory Lending outlines different unethical practices used by lenders that are commonly used to target low-income and minority communities.
Courtesy of University of Georgia. Map and Government Information Library, Georgia Government Publications.
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This excerpt from a 1976 speech by Civil Rights leader Barbara Jordan discusses redlining practices and the economic development of African American communities.
Courtesy of Texas Southern University. Library, The Barbara C. Jordan Archives.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides mortgage insurance on Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved loans. During the 1950s and 1960s, FHA loans contributed to residential segregation through discriminatory practices such as redlining. Redlining describes the denial of mortgages to residents who live in a neighborhood considered to be a higher financial risk; these neighborhoods were disproportionately composed of low-income and minority residents. While housing de jure segregation was prohibited by the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, redlining and other discriminatory practices continued as federal policies and funds were effectively used to maintain de facto segregation. Additionally, the City of Atlanta was criticized for failing to provide adequate housing protections for Black residents. In particular, the Atlanta Housing Authority violated the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s fair housing policies. Georgia state senator Leroy Johnson and NAACP representative Dr. A. M. Davis claimed that the Atlanta Housing Authority continued discriminatory practices by building new public housing units primarily in segregated areas. The 1968 Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, better known as the Kerner Report, found that both federal and local initiatives failed to effectively address the issues of inadequate housing and municipal services, as well as discriminatory consumer and credit practices.