The FHA and Segregation Walls
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was established in 1934 to insure the mortgages of lower-income Americans and first-time homebuyers. The FHA used HOLC residential security maps and thus continued and institutionalized the practice of redlining that favored white homeowners. These statistics tell the story: By the late 1950s, less than 2 percent of housing built after World War II with the help of FHA insurance was sold to minorities, and only 1 percent was built in minority subdivisions.
The FHA also influenced housing developments and subdivisions. In order for developers to qualify for FHA financing, they often had to promise to build a physical structure, such as a six- to eight-foot-high concrete barrier, to separate new whites-only developments from the surrounding nonwhite communities. These barriers became known as segregation walls or race walls; many have survived to the present day.
A house in the Negro section, Detroit, Michigan. The concrete wall in the background is one-half-mile long and serves to separate the Negro section from the white subdivision. Click to see a larger version.
Negro children standing in front of a half-mile concrete wall, Detroit, Michigan. This wall was built in August 1941 to separate the Negro section from a white housing development being built on the other side. Click to see a larger version.
Take Notes
Look at the photographs to answer the following questions.
