Institutional Discrimination in The United States Housing Market - Federal Housing Administration - Urban Renewal

Urban Renewal

Urban renewal programs throughout the United States caused the devastation of many minority communities. During the time of attempted urban renewal in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s federal government projects:

• demolished 20 percent of urban housing units inhabited by African Americans
• at the same time they only demolished 10 percent of urban units occupied by whites
• more than 60 percent of people displaced by projects were minorities
• of the $120 billion of housing created between 1934 and 1962 by the FHA and Veterans Administration only 2 percent was available to minorities

During the time of urban renewal even liberal mayors attempted to justify the programs by claiming that they created more housing for the poor, however it did the exact opposite and destroyed more than was built. Urban renewal targeted minority communities and increased the disparities between the white communities and minority areas. During the 1970s African Americans who lived in urban areas still lost housing at about 80 percent of what had been lost in the 60s. It helped to provide white European Americans the distance that was needed to create a stronger white identity away from black communities.