Redlining was the government sanctioned practice of devaluing property in Black neighborhoods, often to the benefit of white neighborhoods. Outlawed in the 60’s, a new study finds more fallout from redlining continues to impact historically Black communities to this day.
Samuel West is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Virginia State University. He specializes in statistical work and while identifying violence hot spots in Richmond over time he and Richmond native and study co-author Thomas Nixon stumbled across something.
“The pattern was so striking we couldn’t help but include it in this paper,” West said.
That pattern, according to their new study, is quote “the legacy of historic redlining practices in Richmond is observable in the current-day risks of violent injury for adolescents.” In other words, there’s a correlation between the violence we see today and the use of redlining historically.
West said the findings weren’t a huge surprise. They’d seen the link in other cities in other studies. But finding the link solidified the theory.
So, what do we do now? Thanks to an earlier study West conducted, he recommends addressing housing instability.
“Twenty-three percent of renters in the city had at least one eviction filing, which is like almost three times the national average. That’s a concern," West said. "Paired with the housing crisis in the city of Richmond that anyone who lives in the city or anywhere near the city is aware of, that greatly exacerbates things.”
The study comes as President Donald Trump has targeted research at colleges if they touch on subjects he doesn’t agree with. But West hopes that won't impact their future work on race in the country.
“This is an undeniable feature of this data every time you look at it in the U.S., especially in these places we're talking about, this massive racial disparity,” he said.
The future of housing in the Commonwealth is likely to be a hot topic when the legislature returns to Richmond in 2026.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
