Redlining Research Project

AUTHORS: Alex Provant, Dler Awsman, Phiwayinkhosi Dlamini, and Autumn Whitaker
FACULTY: McKay Cunningham
DEPARTMENT: High Impact Practices

ABSTRACT

Our research deals with the history of racial discrimination in housing in the Boise, Idaho area. More specifically, we are looking at the practices of 'redlining' and subdivision covenants with race-based restrictions on who can own property within neighborhoods. In mid 20^th-century Idaho, housing discrimination was present in the form of neighborhood Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions, or CC&Rs. Many new developments planned from the 1930s to the 1960s used deeds which contained clauses restricting property ownership or residence to "members of the white race". Despite the fact that these clauses have been unenforceable for over seventy years, many are still present in neighborhoods across the country, including in Idaho. Housing discrimination practices such as these have been linked to lower intergenerational wealth in communities of color, due to their being forced out of home ownership and more valuable properties during the 20^th century, an important way to build wealth over time.