As clear and obvious the idea that the government essentially controls our migration patterns is, this thought didn’t occur to me until I read the Federal Subsidiary and the Suburban Dream by Kenneth T. Jackson. What baffled me further was the idea that the government was directly involved in “openly exhorted segregation” regarding giving out loans and building up infrastructure. Essentially, Jackson makes this point that the governments racist public policies that were set have shaped the way the cities have developed today.
His first argument was whether or not it was the governments responsibility to intervene with the housing market in terms of property taxes, loans etc. I feel that over the years America has essentially been gearing towards more socialistic ideals versus democratic because of the increase in government control over our life. However, this isn’t exactly negative because when the government had its Laissez Faire policy the American people, especially the poor, did suffer. If the government had not gotten involved post the depression this country would have fallen apart. This is not Marxism but rather a mixed
Despite the failures of the original housing projects such as the Green Belt town program or the Home Owners Loan Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration policies stuck and carried out because of there leniency in giving out loans. They set the standards by lowering down payments, and setting the concept of appraisals and valuing and rating neighborhoods. I feel as if this was essential to the American suburbanization movement, because without that there was no development and infrastructure for people to move out of the overcrowded cities and into the suburbs. This idea of valuing homes has definitely become integral in our real estate market today, and has created an entire new sector in our economy.
However, the point that was most striking to me was that initially the Federal Housing Administrators policies were highly subjective and the decisions that the administrators made half a century ago have affected the way the inner cities have developed. By lowering the value of neighborhoods that have more “black people,” the FHA directly gave those people fewer opportunities. The people in those neighborhoods weren’t bailed out after the depression, and therefore the crime rates and infrastructure is worse than other more white suburban locations. Similar to the stories in the Great Migration, these people faced more hardships than others of different races, and the most shocking part is that this was primary because of the government. Of course blacks faced racism, but the government put them in such a position to begin with that certain parts could never rose up after the governments involvement. For instance the example of St. Louis shows how these cities never rose up.
This chapter as a whole by Jackson was very fact heavy and dense to read. It wasn’t an easy smooth read and often Jackson’s points were overshadowed by the amount of facts he included. I think that this is for an educated reader and not someone who knows much background history, and that’s why it was tough for me to get through. The questions I would ask are how do we grow from this and bring back our inner cities? Is there truly a way to deal with housing in an objective manner? Is this segregation ever going to fade away, or will the mistakes of our past never be fixed?
