The Racist Housing Policies That Helped Fuel The Anger In Ferguson | ThinkProgress

The Racist Housing Policies That Helped Fuel The Anger In Ferguson | ThinkProgress: Ferguson, MO, which erupted in chaos this week after police shot an unarmed teenager, has seen extensive racial segregation over the last century. The long history of discriminatory policies has bred simmering tensions about race that have burst forward after the death of Mike Brown.

Ferguson is a prime, and egregious, example of discriminatory housing policies and segregation. Out of 50 metro areas across the country, the St. Louis area where Ferguson is located is the ninth most segregated between whites and blacks.

That fact is a result of both white flight and public policy working in tandem. St. Louis began redlining with a ballot measure in 1916, which won by a substantial majority, creating an ordinance that designated some areas as “Negro blocks.” While it was struck down a year later when a similar ordinance in another area was ruled against by the Supreme Court, realtors were undeterred.