Abstract 

This paper explores the enduring impact of discriminatory laws in the United States, focusing on the historical practices of redlining and Japanese internment. It examines how redlining contributed to systemic economic disadvantages for African Americans, including lower homeownership rates, income disparities, and restricted access to tax and retirement benefits. The paper also analyzes the long-term health and cultural impacts of Japanese internment camps on Japanese Americans, which continue to affect future generations. I also propose numerous policy solutions that advocate for reparations and educational initiatives as pathways to redress past injustices and reduce future discrimination against racial minorities in America. 

Introduction 

Historically, racism has shaped the laws of the United States, dictating the lives of millions of American citizens. This racism can be seen through the practice of redlining, which was particularly popular during President Roosevelt’s administrations, through his New Deal programs. One program in the New Deal was designed to grant mortgages to homeowners, after the economic issues homeowners went through in the Great Depression. However, this practice of redlining became increasingly racist when the federal government began to rank neighborhoods “A” through “D.” According to Candance Jackson, a writer and journalist from the New York times, with a master's degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, “The federal government deemed ‘D’ areas as places where property values were most likely to go down and the areas were marked in red — a sign that these neighborhoods were not worthy of inclusion in homeownership… Not coincidentally, most of the ‘D’ areas were neighborhoods where Black residents lived.” (Jackson) As a result, it was difficult for African Americans to receive mortgages, thus making it nearly impossible for African American to become homeowners in a time of economic insecurity. According to Libertina Brandt, a real-estate reporter for Business Insider and a Binghamton University graduate, “ The national homeownership rate for Black families is 44%, versus 73.7% for white families.” (Brandt). African American families continue to see the impact of redlining to this day, as it is still difficult for African Americans to become homeowners. These racist laws negatively impact African American citizens, as well as other racial minority groups, to a large extent. The Impact of

Redlining 

Redlining has numerous impacts on African Americans, because redlining marks African Americans into red marked neighborhoods, African Americans have lower income. According to Matt Nowling, a Research Analyst at The Polis Center at the Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), “...children from some neighborhoods grow up to earn less…Being born into a poorly graded neighborhood decreases a child’s annual earnings by $15,000 near age 30…” (Nowling) The grading of a neighborhood is monumental in determining the success and employment opportunities available for the children growing up within the neighborhood. Therefore, the racist practice of redlining has impacted generations of African Americans, limiting their ability to advance economically and earn higher incomes, and negatively affecting their employment opportunities. Furthermore, the decreased earnings of African Americans affects their tax benefits. According to the Center of American Progress’ (a social advocacy organization) report on Systematic Inequality, “Thus, African Americans have less access to stable jobs, good wages, and retirement benefits at work…Because African Americans tend to have lower incomes, they inevitably receive fewer tax benefits—even if they are homeowners or have retirement savings accounts.” Redlining affects more than just the neighborhood African Americans live in and their access to mortgages, it impacts the jobs available to them and consequently the retirement and tax benefits they receive. When African Americans live in lower graded neighborhoods, both their employment opportunities and their tax/retirement benefits are restricted, putting African Americans at a disadvantage. All of these economic factors contribute to the wealth inequality faced by African Americans today. 

Redlining also affects African Americans' access to healthcare and the development of redlined neighborhoods. According to Maria Godoy, a senior science and health editor and correspondent with NPR News, “ …in those neighborhoods today and found higher rates of poverty, shorter life spans and higher rates of chronic diseases including asthma, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and kidney disease.” (Godoy) When a neighborhood is redlined, entrepreneurs decide to stop investing in the area, decreasing the quality of the area's infrastructure. As a result, redlined areas are not developed like greenlined areas are, there are less parks, and thus, less areas to exercise. There are also fewer grocery stores in redlined areas, meaning less opportunity for African Americans to cook and buy healthy food. These factors cause increased health issues for people living in redlined neighborhoods. And because of the smaller incomes and less employment benefits of people living in redlined areas, these health issues often go untreated, leading to shorter life spans. All in all, redlining is still affecting Americans today, negatively impacting the health and lives of African Americans.

Solution 

Despite all the negative impacts of redlining, reparations for African Americans could aid African Americans in recovering from the discrimination and prejudice they have faced. As a result of redlining, African Americans face many disadvantages in today’s world. According to Dr. Rashawn Ray, a writer at The Brookings Institution and a professor of Sociology, “Today, the average white family has roughly 10 times the amount of wealth as the average Black family.” (Ray) The wealth gap between African and White Americans is large, even today. But reparations can support African Americans in their journey to achieve higher socioeconomic status’. According to Jacquelyne Germain, a graduate from the Medill School of Journalism and a writer for the news station CNN, “...as descendants of enslaved people many say they have not been compensated for their labor and the lingering effects of systemic racism.” (Germain) After the racism African Americans have faced, there is a large push for reparations. The support for reparations has led to the first reparations program for redlining; the Restorative Housing Reparations Program in Evanston, Illinois. According to Jewel Wicker, a writer for the Guardian, with a Bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University, “The housing grant will award eligible residents up to $25,000, which can be used for a ‘home down payment or closing cost assistance within the city…’” (Wicker) These reparations allow African Americans the chance to become homeowners, and recover from the financial ruin brought upon them from redlining. The Othering and Belonging Institute at University of California Berkeley has found that, “Evanston proved that cities can enact local measures to ensure material benefit for Black residents.” (Nakamura) The benefits of reparation were demonstrated in Evanston, and other cities across the United States should follow the example of Evanston. Overall, reparation programs need to become more widespread across America to decrease the impact of redlining on African American families. 

Limitations 

There are many benefits to reparations, and plenty of support for reparations from African Americans. However, there is a lack of reparation support from White Americans. According to a poll conducted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2021, 72% of White American oppose reparations for African Americans, reparations for both slavery and for redlining. Without increased support from White Americans for reparations, it would be difficult to enact reparation programs across the United States. Furthermore, the Brooking Institute, a nonprofit public policy organization focused on research, has found that, “Reparations will not solve all problems that confront Black Americans.” African Americans will continue to face discrimination in the housing market, even if reparations were given out. While reparations would improve African American health, economic stability and homeownership, redlining is still seen in some areas. According to the Modesto Bee, a newspaper focused in the California Central Valley, “The grotesque language of racially restrictive covenants still appears on Stanislaus property records during homebuying transactions, even though the restrictions have been illegal for more than 50 years.” This form of discrimination will continue to challenge African Americans in the housing market. Thus, despite the benefits of reparations, they will not solve all the challenges that redlining has caused for African Americans. 

The Impact of Japanese Internment Camps 

In addition, there are other laws that have targeted racial minorities in the United States as well, particularly laws focusing on Japanese Americans. In the photograph Migrant Mother, by Dorothea Lange, (a photographer during the Great Depression) a mother with her two children is portrayed during the Great Depression. In this era, the Great Depression, anti-Japanese sentiments were very prevalent, mostly due to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. According to the United States National Archives and Records Administration, “The attack on Pearl Harbor also launched a rash of fear about national security, especially on the West Coast. In February 1942, just two months later, President Roosevelt, as commander-in-chief, issued Executive Order 9066.” The Pearl Harbor Attack had caused fear amongst the American people and government, they were afraid Japanese Americans were spies for Japan, or that Japanese Americans were plotting more attacks against the United States. 

The fear of Japan, caused by the Pearl Harbor attack, had led to increased discrimination against Japanese Americans in the United States. According to the White House Briefing on February 18, 2022, “...President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, stripping people of Japanese descent of their civil rights…Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from their homes and communities and incarcerated...” The United States had legally isolated Japanese Americans, despite their status as American citizens, denying them the freedom of living within American society, and forcing them to live within internment camps. The living conditions within these internment camps were dreadful, according to the United States National Archives and Records Administration,, “In the ‘relocation centers’...four or five families, with their sparse collections of clothing and possessions, shared tar-papered army-style barracks.” Japanese Amerians were treated horrifically at the end of the Great Depression, they were discriminated against simply due to their heritage, and this treatment has had monumental impacts on Japanese Amerians today. 

In modern society, Japanese Americans are still facing the effects of Japanese Internment Camps. Internment Camps have caused Japanese Americans to have increased health issues, and led to Japanese Americans losing aspects of Japanese culture. According to Gwendolyn M. Jensen, author of the study" The Experience of Injustice: Health Consequences of the Japanese American Internment,” "Long-term health consequences included psychological anguish as well as increased cardiovascular disease. Survey information found former internees had a 2.1 greater risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular mortality, and premature death than did a non-interned counterpart.’" The inhumane conditions of the Japanese Internment camps, led to diseases and health issues for internees, and these diseases are then passed through generations. According to the National Medicine Library, the largest biomedical library in the world and a leader in computational health informatics research, ““Dominantly inherited genetic diseases tend to occur in every generation of a family.” Thus, the health issues caused by the Japanese Internment camps are still impacting generations of Japanese Americans to this day. Furthermore, Japanese Americans lost cultural traditions and ideals within internment camps, Honna K. Nagata, author of the study "Legacy of Injustice: Exploring the Cross-Generational Impact of the Japanese American Internment" has found that “‘Trauma may directly or indirectly affect the children of trauma victims…These include feelings of low self-esteem, the pressure to assimilate, an accelerated loss of the Japanese culture and language…” The children of interness likely face psychological repercussions of Japanese internment, including decreased use of the Japanese language, as well as the pressure to assimilate into American society. Increased Japanese assimilation, and the fear to display traditions of Japanese culture led to a loss of Japanese culture and language over time. Overall, Japanese internment camps have caused increased health issues for both internees, and their children, as well as a loss of Japanese culture within American society.

Solution 

We can minimize increased discrimination of minorities within the United States, by remembering the awful experiences that Japanese Americans have gone through in our country. According to Densho, a nonprofit dedicated to documenting internees testimonies, “Keeping memories of the incarceration alive also gives Japanese Americans the power—and responsibility—to speak out when other groups are unfairly targeted because of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or.. other identity.” Thus, by remembering Japanese Internment Camps, Japanese Americans become dedicated to halt further atrocities against minorities in the United States. While there already are many memorials and museums dedicated to remembering Internment, Americans can further remember the impacts of Japanese Internment camps by increasing the amount of school field trips to Japanese American Memorials and the Japanese American National Museum. According to Explorable Places, a company dedicated to evaluating field trips in modern education, has found that, “Field trips and hands-on learning make concepts more memorable.” By increasing the amount of field trips focused on Japanese Internment Camps, more children, and eventually adults, will be aware of the negative experiences minorities have historically faced in the United States. According to Julia Watson, an architect specializing in ancient innovation, “In our rush towards the future, we tend to forget about the past.” By remembering the discrimination Japanese Americans faced and the impact on Japanese American communities, the United States will avoid discriminating against American minorities in the future. 

Conclusions 

There have been many discriminatory laws in the United States’ past. Redlining and Japanese Internment are only two instances of how discrimination has impacted minorities.

Redlining has caused decreased homeownership, lower income, and fewer tax benefits for African Americans. However, reparations, and homeownership programs for African Americans, could aid in repairing the damage done to African American communities from redlining. Japanese Internment camps have caused health issues and a loss of Japanese culture within the United States. But by remembering the damage discriminatory laws have done to minority communities in the past, and increasing field trips focused on the Japanese Internment camps, further discrimination will decrease in the future. Despite the damage discriminatory laws have done to minority communities in the United States, through reparations, and remembering the past, we can move forward as a society.

‍

Works Cited 

Jackson, Candace. “What Is Redlining?” The New York Times, 17 Aug. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/realestate/what-is-redlining.html. 

Brandt, Libertina. “How Redlining Kept Black Americans from Home Ownership Decades Ago — and Is Still Contributing to the Racial Wealth Gap Today.” Business Insider, 16 June 2020, www.businessinsider.com/how-redlining-kept-black-americans-from-homeownership-and-still-d oes-2020-6. 

Townsley, Jeramy. “The Lasting Impacts of Segregation and Redlining.” SAVI, 24 June 2021, www.savi.org/2021/06/24/lasting-impacts-of-segregation/. 

Hanks, Angela, et al. “Systematic Inequality.” Center for American Progress, Center for American Progress, 21 Feb. 2018, www.americanprogress.org/article/systematic-inequality/.

Godoy, Maria. “In U.S. Cities, the Health Effects of Past Housing Discrimination Are Plain to See.” NPR, 19 Nov. 2020, 

www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/11/19/911909187/in-u-s-cities-the-health-effects-of-past -housing-discrimination-are-plain-to-see. 

Ray, Rashawn, and Andre M. Perry. “Why We Need Reparations for Black Americans.” Brookings, 15 Apr. 2020, 

www.brookings.edu/policy2020/bigideas/why-we-need-reparations-for-black-americans/. CNN, Jacquelyne Germain. “The Fight for Reparations Has Stalled in Congress. Here’s What They Look like in State and Local Governments.” CNN, 

www.cnn.com/2022/07/13/us/reparations-state-local-commission-reaj/index.html. Wicker, Jewel. “Illinois City Approves First Reparations Program for Black Residents.” The Guardian, 23 Mar. 2021, 

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/23/evanston-illinois-city-reparations-program-black-re sidents Accessed 3 Apr. 2023. 

“Affordable Housing as Local Reparations for Black Americans: Case Studies | Othering & Belonging Institute.” Belonging.berkeley.edu, 

belonging.berkeley.edu/affordable-housing-local-reparations-black-americans-case-studies. Accessed 3 Apr. 2023. 

Sharpe, Jared. “UMass Amherst/WCVB Poll Finds Nearly Half of Americans Say the Federal Government Definitely Should Not Pay Reparations to the Descendants of Slaves | UMass Amherst.” Www.umass.edu, 29 Apr. 2021, 

www.umass.edu/news/article/umass-amherstwcvb-poll-finds-nearly-half.

Mullen, William "Sandy" Darity and Kirsten. “Black Reparations and the Racial Wealth Gap.” Brookings, 15 June 2020, 

www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/06/15/black-reparations-and-the-racial-wealth-gap/. Stanislaus to Search Records for Racist Property Covenants | Modesto Bee. https://www.modbee.com/news/local/article273097685.html. 

Lange, Dorothea. “Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children. Age Thirty-Two. Nipomo, California.” Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, library of congress, Mar. 1936, www.loc.gov/item/2017762891/. 

National Archives. “Japanese-American Internment during World War II.” National Archives, 15 Aug. 2016, 

www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation#:~:text=The%20attack%20on%20Pearl %20Harbor. 

“Day of Remembrance of Japanese American Incarceration during World War II.” The White House, 18 Feb. 2022, 

www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/02/18/day-of-remembrance-of-jap anese-american-incarceration-during-world-war-ii/. 

National Archives. “Japanese-American Internment during World War II.” National Archives, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 15 Aug. 2016, 

www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation#background. 

“Children of the Camps | HEALTH IMPACT.” Pbs.org, 2019, 

www.pbs.org/childofcamp/history/health.html. 

Genetic Alliance. “INHERITANCE PATTERNS.” Nih.gov, Genetic Alliance, 8 July 2009, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK115561/.

Watson, Julia. “How to Build a Resilient Future Using Ancient Wisdom.” TED, 11 Aug. 2020, www.ted.com/talks/julia_watson_how_to_build_a_resilient_future_using_ancient_wisdom. “Why Does This Matter Now?” Densho: Japanese American Incarceration and Japanese Internment, densho.org/learn/introduction/why-does-this-matter-now/. 

“Explorable Places - Make Your Community Your Classroom.” Explorableplaces.com, 2019, www.explorableplaces.com/blog/the-benefits-of-field-trips.