As it has been made obvious through various discussions in class, housing is a very important factor of someone’s life. What took me by surprise through this article was the actions of the Home Owner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC). Although the corporation proved to be successful in establishing the feasibility of long-term mortgages, a fact that cannot be passed over on would be the rating system that they devised. With only four letters and four colors, HOLC was able to label and more importantly, almost define neighborhoods with a single letter.

When reading about the process for determining the letter, it occurred to me that the process was just racist. Neighborhoods were only labeled “A” if the inhabitants were Caucasian American, and America in the early 20th century was sure to buy into these “A” neighborhoods as ideal. The grading process that the HOLC uses most probably made people living in lower grade neighborhoods feel pity for themselves, but enabled those living in “A” grade neighborhoods gloat. The racist process was designed to be against neighborhoods containing people of color.

Even in my own neighborhood, the block is occupied by many different cultural people, but is primarily Indian and Spanish. On the block next to mine, there are a couple of Jewish family who live in a couple of house holds, but again predominantly Spanish and Indian. But then literally a couple of blocks down, maybe a 10 minute walk, there is LeFrak City, an apartment development with a large black population. All these blocks would not have received an “A” as a grade, but in my eye, this neighborhood is not a bad one.