LETTERS

Letter to the editor: Baltimore history misunderstood

Staff Writer
Topeka Capital-Journal

Baltimore history misunderstood

Proposed caption: What’s really going on in Baltimore? Having moved from Baltimore to Topeka, I found President Trump’s recent tweets about Baltimore hyperbolic and misplaced. Already condemned for their thinly veiled racism, these tweets display a profound lack of understanding of the forces shaping American cities. Racial discrimination created many of the problems facing Baltimore today; ongoing discrimination perpetuates them.

In 1910, Baltimore passed the first exclusionary zoning law in the U.S. It mandated residential segregation and limited where people of color could live. In the mid-1900s, many banks engaged in mortgage redlining, refusing to make loans in Black communities, regardless how creditworthy the applicants. Redlining prevented many families of color from buying homes, preventing them from building assets and reinforcing segregation.

The same communities where banks previously refused to lend became targets for “reverse redlining” in the early 2000s. Banks made risky loans to unqualified applicants and gave subprime loans to Black and Latinx applicants who actually qualified for prime loans. Foreclosures then devastated these communities when the housing market crashed. The discrimination didn’t end there. Some banks now fail to maintain their foreclosed properties in communities of color to the same extent as in White communities, driving down property values in those neighborhoods.

Dilapidated housing and limited economic opportunity in Baltimore didn’t happen by accident. Deliberate public policies working in concert with private industry led to the problems we see today. I urge President Trump to redirect his anger to the proper targets — those who continue to engage in racial discrimination.

Michelle Ewert, Topeka