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Consequences of Redlining

Denial of Home Loans & Generational Poverty

In redlined neighborhoods like Roxbury and Mattapan, banks and insurers routinely denied mortgages to Black applicants. Homeownership is the primary vehicle for building intergenerational wealth in the U.S., and without it, families were locked out of equity.

  • By 2015, median net worth for white households in Boston was $247,500, versus just $8 for Black households. (WBUR, 2021)
  • Home equity accounts for over 60% of wealth among white families, but under 5% for Black families in the same region. (Color of Wealth)

School Segregation & Service Decline

In 1974, court-ordered busing sought to integrate Boston Public Schools but met fierce resistance and “white flight.” Nearly 30,000 students left the system in one year. (Prism Reports, 2023)

  • Today, about 60% of Boston schools remain “intensely segregated,” up 33% since 2008. (Harvard Political Review, 2022)
  • Segregated schools serving Black and Latinx students have higher student-teacher ratios and outdated materials, despite overall per-pupil spending above the national average. (Harvard Political Review)

Wealth Inequality & Service Decline

Redlined areas suffered underfunded public services roads, transit, parks, and emergency response because local revenue followed property values. Today, residents in formerly redlined neighborhoods still face longer emergency response times and fewer infrastructure investments.

  • Boston’s overall per-pupil spending is $24,000 nearly double the U.S. average but schools in redlined areas see far lower quality facilities. (Harvard Political Review)
  • Black Boston families are five times more likely to live in low-resource neighborhoods with aging public infrastructure. (WBUR, 2021)
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Wealth & Equity Charts

Median Net Worth by Race over Time Homeownership Rates by Race

Source: Boston Indicators Wealth & Equity Chartbook

A Teacher’s Perspective

“I was born poor, I was at a huge disadvantage being born Black, and I was female, but I had both teachers and a community that believed in me. So I did succeed, but I don’t feel that that’s the case in Boston.”

— Peggy Kemp