Redlining has a long history and was practiced and endorsed by federal government agencies for decades. True or False?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. It was practiced but not endorsed
• D. It was only practiced by private lenders

Answer: (A)

Redlining was a deliberate pattern of denying or limiting mortgage credit in neighborhoods, especially where minority residents lived. Federal involvement and endorsement are well documented from the 1930s onward. The Home Owners' Loan Corporation created maps that graded neighborhoods by perceived risk, and the Federal Housing Administration and later federal entities aligned their underwriting and loan-insurance policies with those grades. This meant that federal policy actively supported and reinforced redlining for decades, shaping access to loans, homeownership, and wealth accumulation. Only with landmark civil rights and housing laws beginning in the late 1960s and later enforcement did the framework change, though the historical impact remained long-lasting. So the statement is true.