The Origins of Wealth Inequality in America
This last lesson in the Economics and the Great Migration curriculum studies the practice of redlining, whose impacts on neighborhoods are still felt today over 50 years after its abolishment.
The economic collapse of the 1930s caused the U.S. government to develop new policies to put Americans back on their feet again. Many of these programs centered on growing the housing stock and providing tools for households to begin generating wealth. Discrimination did not allow for Black Americans to have an equal opportunity at building a middle-class lifestyle—the bedrock of the American Dream. These inequities began an ever-widening wealth gap that has impacted generations far removed from the original policies.
Related: View all lessons in the Economics and the Great Migration Curriculum.
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