Ever ask yourself why we have racism still when so many people identify as not racist? It's all about how structures work upon it. Structural racism if you will.
My own home city has a problem with it. It all started a long time ago in the times of white flight and the development of suburbia within the city. Kansas City, 1924. JC Nichols founder the KC Plaza by Troost Street. It's the development of many rich neighborhoods in the twenties. Here are quotes from the deeds to the lots owned by Nichols and the NAREB regulations in the 20's.
"none of the lots hereby restricted may be conveyed to, used, owned, nor occupied by negroes as owners or tenants."--Deeds to JC Nichols' properties
"a Realtor should never be instrumental in introducing into a neighborhood / members of any race or nationality whose presence will clearly be detrimental to real estate values in that neighborhood..."--NAREB Code of Ethics 1924
At the time anyone who wasn't Germanic white descendency was considered detrimental to real estate values. This trend kept the demographic of the area stagnant. 96% of Johnson County subdivisions had racial covenants prior to 1948 when the Supreme Court struck them down as unconstitutional. Despite this it continued to be the trend until about 1962.
So what happened during the time that allowed this? Nothing illegal actually. Redlining and white flight emerged.
Redlining is loosely defined as denying job access, loans, insurance, or simply increasing the cost of living to individuals based on race, sex, or whatever else. This practice was a deterrent for blacks living in the neighborhood. Of course they still came at a trickle. The effect of this was rapidly decreasing property values in areas where blacks lived in the 60's. Whites would start selling their property and move to suburbs farther from the city. In general it was looked at as whites turning over their plummeting values over to blacks. A term called
blockbusting was born from this. Real estate brokers played upon the fear of whites leaving to buy houses cheap and sell high to blacks. It's probably more accurate to say this was the cause for the lowering value of the neighborhood. The increased cost of living for the new tenants further progressed it by forcing so many assets toward living that upkeep for homes diminished and brought values all over the neighborhood down.
To be specific to Kansas City's plight it was focused on the east side of Troost street. It's where it began and spread.
I actually have pictures to demonstrate this. Currently there are almost no banks east of Troost street. Simply because banks are legally required to distribute loans in the immediate area and the low class neighborhood represents huge liability.
The situation wouldn't exist if regulation to stop discrimination of property holding existed all the way back in the 20's. At this point the geography does the work of Jim Crow laws without them actually being there. These people are still disadvantaged from racism that was in place before most were born. The legislation is gone, government has been 'discriminatory' free since 1964 but the effects remain.
Picture 1 is a (rather crappy) map of KC and demographic divide as of 2000. I apologize, it grossly misrepresents the defines of the blue river which makes the grid hard to read.
Picture 2 is a description of the steps to develop this.
Picture 3 is the divide effects.
