Exploring the Racial Wealth Gap: The Contributions of Redlining and Blockbusting
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Transcript | SummaryDuring the Economic Mobility Project’s virtual event, Exploring the Racial Wealth Gap: The Contributions of Redlining and Blockbusting, on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm CT (2:00 pm to 3:30 pm ET), we explored the disparate impacts of redlining and blockbusting on the current state of racial wealth inequality.
Policy Briefs
Black people in the United States have, on average, lower earnings, higher unemployment rates, lower rates of homeownership, and less access to traditional banking services—all factors that contribute to economic disparities between their households and White households. Racially discriminatory housing practices, including redlining and blockbusting, contributed to unequal homeownership rates between Black and White Americans in the twentieth century, with the effects still being felt today. Considering the importance of homeownership in building wealth, we illustrated how these practices have contributed to the racial wealth gap.
The event included the following:
- Overview of the Racial Wealth Gap and Contributing Factors | Working Paper
Kristen Broady, senior economist, economic advisor and Director of the Economic Mobility Project, Chicago Fed - The Effects of Redlining Maps on the Long-Run Trajectories of
Neighborhoods
Daniel Aaronson, Senior Vice President and Associate Director of Research, Chicago Fed - Blockbusting and the Challenges Faced by Black Families in Building Wealth Through Housing
in
the Postwar United States
Daniel Hartley, Senior Economist, Chicago Fed - Panel Discussion: Factors Contributing to the Racial Wealth Gap
Moderator: Natalie Y. Moore, Journalist
Andre M. Perry, Senior Fellow at Brookings Metro and scholar-in-residence at American University
Nicole Elam, President and CEO, National Bankers Association
William Darity, Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Duke University
Damon Jones, Associate Professor, University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy
