Racial steering
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Part of a series of articles on Racial segregation |
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Racial steering refers to the practice in which real estate brokers guide prospective home buyers towards or away from certain neighborhoods based on their race. Racial steering is often divided into two broad classes of conduct;
Historically the United States of America has been defined by racially segregated neighborhoods.Urban Planning up to the 1960s has been documented as one of the causes of this phenomenon. Urban planners have been seen to have practiced early forms of racial steering. Through the use of the restrictive covenant, and the establishment of zoning laws between World War I and World War II, and the use of urban renewal between the 1940s and 1960s, urban planners have aided in the development of racially segregated neighborhoods. After the 1960s, through in part by the Civil Rights Movement, planning efforts were focused more towards advocacy, and community development, rather than maintaining segregation. Although planning practices did change, the racial make-up of neighborhoods did not.
An example of an urban planner practicing racial steering when developing communities is Ebenezer Howard. In 1898 after observing congestion and pollution problems in London, Howard developed a community model, which he would call "garden cities" that would lessen the impact of congestion and pollution. Howard hoped that the communities "would offer economic and social advances of the city combined with the tranquility, healthful environment, and closeness to nature" of suburb life. These communities would be set up for Caucasian upper-middle-class people, and "by virtue of quick rail access, they would have close economic links to other cities, but would have enough economic activity within its boundaries so that the majority of residents would not have to commute" thus lessening the impact of congestion and pollution. "Howard's work has influenced urban development in dozens if not hundreds of communities" in the United States.
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