Redlining is best described as which practice?

• A. Denying loans and services to Black people to segregate communities.
• B. Providing loans only to Black neighborhoods.
• C. Investing equitably across all communities.
• D. Redlining has no historical impact.

Answer: (A)

Redlining is a discriminatory practice where lenders and other financial services deny loans, mortgages, or insurance to people living in certain areas based on the racial or ethnic composition of those neighborhoods. The goal is to keep wealth and investment out of those communities, which helps sustain racial segregation. The term comes from maps that lenders drew with red lines around areas deemed high risk, often those with Black residents, signaling that no financing would be offered there. This led to disinvestment, declining property values, and limited opportunities for residents to build wealth through home ownership.

This description matches the idea of denying financial services to Black communities to keep them segregated. It’s not about providing loans only to Black neighborhoods, nor about investing equitably across all areas, and it certainly reflects a real, historical impact rather than none.