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This article was really upsetting to read. Dr. Connolly is a history professor who specializes in redlining, and yet he and his wife still had to deal with it firsthand. That just shows how deep the problem goes. Even with all their accomplishments, living in a mostly white neighborhood, and making improvements to their home, they were still undervalued because they’re black, and their skin color alone for some reason made a ~$300,000 difference.

They had to remove their kids drawings, family photos, and anything that showed they were a Black family just to get a fair appraisal. That’s honestly heartbreaking. Imagine having to erase your identity just to be treated equally. The first appraiser valued their home at $472,000, and the second one, after they had a white colleague stand in, said it was worth $750,000. That’s a huge difference.

We’ve talked about the wealth gap in this class, and this is exactly how it keeps going. If Black families can’t build equity through homeownership like white families can, it affects their ability to move forward and pass down wealth. Redlining might not be legal anymore, but it’s very clearly still happening in new ways.

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The practice of redlining is shameful, and truly I cannot believe that it is still alive and well today. I appreciate this article because it breaks down the HOW of this disgusting practice and digs deeper into the details of how the appraisals work and how they disadvantage certain populations. It provides facts to back up the claim and makes it impossible to banter the results as many people these days would love to do. I am sure someone out there could find a way to say that this was a setup, or whatever flaws they could think of, but the fact is the NY Times makes the claim very, very clear. The difference in prices is astounding and the appraiser truly should be ashamed of himself because that was not just “a little” off the mark, that was a significant difference which makes it incredibly difficult to stand by and justify the numbers. My heart breaks that the number changed so drastically when Dr. Connolly erased his entire family from the home. It is inexcusable that these results were produced only after the family was removed from the very fabric of their home. Dr. Connolly said it best “it is very humiliating to strip yourself of your own home” and I could never even begin to imagine how that could possibly feel. I felt several different emotions while reading this article, from anger, relief, and sadness. Anger because it had to come down to this article, relief because it is being uncovered and brought to the forefront. Articles like these are helping us push forward and weed systemic racism from every nook and cranny. Sadness because why the hell does this still even happen and exist?

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Currently outlawed redlining practices persist for Black communities to maintain and intensify the racial disparity in wealth accumulation. Financial institutions refused to grant mortgages or financial assistance to Black families during previous times which pushed them toward underdeveloped neighborhoods with limited resources. Many families have suffered over multiple generations because they could not access homeownership opportunities which is traditionally used for wealth accumulation. Through present times Black homeowners experience both undervalued properties and elevated mortgage costs together with ongoing residential isolation. The properties labeled redlined in the past continue to experience deficient educational programs, insufficient investment from businesses, and elevated poverty levels that restrict family economic growth. White families built wealth through meaningful appreciation of their properties yet Black families remain financially unstable because of this systematic racial division. To fix these inequalities, the government must establish rules supporting open housing opportunities, equal mortgage conditions, and reparative investments within previously neglected districts.

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This article is honestly infuriating but not surprising, unfortunately. The fact that this African American family's homeowner's appraisal came in nearly 300,000 dollars lower than when a white person posed as the owner is not only troubling but also proves how deeply racism is embedded into systems like real estate. It's one thing to hear about systemic racism and learn about it in class, but it's another to see such a blatant example of it in action. As we've learned in previous modules, homeownership is a huge factor in building generational wealth. When Black families are consistently and repeatedly undervalued like this, this just keeps widening the racial wealth gap.

What's the most frustrating part to me is that this isn't just an isolated case, it is a part of a much bigger pattern. It is exhausting that in 2022, and even still in 2025, people still have to go to lengths such as “whitewashing” their homes by removing family photos and pretending that a white friend of theirs is the homeowner just to get a fair price on the house. The fact that these tactics even work proves that racial bias is extremely real, and it is affecting people's financial fixtures in a major way. Some drastic changes need to be made to give everyone a fair shot.

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This is a very sad article. I'm not surprised Redling is still practicing today. I just don’t understand the reasoning behind thinking people of color are  less worthy than white people. These people are clearly well off since they live in a beautiful home. I also know that to refinance your house you do an employment check. Dr Connolly and Dr Mott have very good jobs. They are also very educated. For anyone to look at only color when it comes to getting a right estimate does not even make sense. Colored folks are still fighting an uphill battle every day. It almost feels no matter what color folks due they somehow get penalized. I also am appalled to hear that during the second appraisal they had to basically hide their identity. No parents should have to explain to their kids they basically have to take down drawings and act white to get what's rightfully theirs.   I agree with Biden and Harris that the appraisal industry needs to be overhauled. I am happy that they messed with the wrong people and these companies are getting sued. No one is 300,000 dollars off by accident. Also to call a house like that a fixer upper is a slap to the face.

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After reading the assigned reading and than reading the article assigned it helped to give a visual explanation of what "redlining" truly is. I could read the meaning, the definition and the history behind the discriminatory measures of low balling and giving those of color a hard time in regard to obtaining homes and the undercutting of the homes value if occured. Sometimes, it is still hard to process until you read an article like that of Dr. Connelly and Dr. Mott and the experience they had gone through. I wanted to be able to ask if Mr. Latham was capable of doing his job without the discrimination aspect or if he was just acting out of his own personal bias against African Americans. The fact that the family had to physically conduct their own experiment and remove their lives from their homes is unjust and disgusting to believe ANYONE should have to do so in order to be treated with the same respect and valued as others of different races and ethnicities. I truly hope they were able to find peace after this and continue to raise awareness so others don't have to deal with this redlining nonsense in further years. Common people, it's 2025, time to get it together and grow up, move on and find something better to do with their times besides targeting those who are not of the same backgrounds.

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The fact that redlining still exists in 2025 is insane, and it speaks volumes about how much times really have not changed. This was shocking to me that the values are lowered based on the color of their skin, I am disappointed that they had to whitewash their home just to get the value out of it they deserved. They have accomplished so much in their lives and the raising of their children and yet still had to change the views inside their home. I cannot imagine what that felt like for them. This story goes to show just how much needs to be changed, how much we need to speak out about the wrong doings being done to the African American communities. The people who behave this way need to be held accountable to make big changes.

This shows why it is so hard for African American's to make generational wealth, they are constantly being held back from earning and making the money they work so hard for. Articles like these need to be more publicized.

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Reading about what happened to Dr. Connolly and Dr. Mott struck a deep chord with me because I see the same kind of injustice in my community here in Nassau County. As a 55-year-old African American woman living in a predominantly Black neighborhood, I am acutely aware of how redlining still is. Although it may not manifest the same way it did decades ago, its effects are very much alive, particularly when it comes to appraisals and property values. It's heartbreaking and frustrating to know that, despite how hard we work or how much we invest in our homes, our skin color can still diminish their value in the eyes of others. This is not only wrong but also harmful. It prevents Black families from accumulating wealth and advancing. We deserve the same opportunities and respect as anyone else. Stories like this remind me of how far we still have to go in the fight for equality. We must continue to strive for a society where everyone is treated equally and with respect.

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An article in the New York Times, “Home Appraised With a Black Owner: $472,000. With a White Owner: $750,000,” explains that redlining has long been illegal, but its effects still hurt Black families, especially in places like Maryland. Redlining is a system that banks and the government used to deny loans and insurance to Black people and considered all Black neighborhoods and the people living there to be disadvantaged. As a result, these neighborhoods were not provided with the necessary financing, and the value of all homes remained low. This made it difficult for Black families to build and transfer wealth through homeownership.

The article explains that homes in predominantly Black neighborhoods are still undervalued compared to similar homes in white neighborhoods. When Black homeowners try to get fair prices for their homes, they often receive low appraisals. Some may hide their race, which can affect the high appraisal of the home.

The wealth gap between Black and White families is one of the biggest problems caused by redlining. Homeownership is one of the main ways for Americans to build wealth. But if Black families can’t get fair prices or credit, they have a hard time building wealth. Without money, they have a harder time sending their children to college, starting a business, or passing on wealth to future generations.

This article confirms that redlining hasn’t disappeared, it’s evolved. And unless changes are made, like fair housing and equal access to credit, the huge wealth gap between White and Black families will only grow.

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Redlining may not be legal anymore, but it still affects Black families today. The article talks about a Black family in Maryland whose home was valu ed much lower than it should have been, just because they were Black. When they removed signs of their race and had a white friend stand in for them, the house was suddenly worth a lot more. That shows how unfair the system still is.

Owning a home is one of the best ways to build wealth and pass it down to future generations. But when Black families get lower home values or have a harder time getting loans, they struggle to build the same wealth as white families. This is one of the reasons why the wealth gap between Black and white families is still so big today.

Even though there are laws against discrimination, banks and home appraisers still treat Black homeowners unfairly. This needs to change so that everyone has an equal chance to buy a home, grow their wealth, and create a better future for their families. Overall this article highlighted many points and got me to truly think on how this affects peoples true lives. We can only imagine that the future will be better for these communites.

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This story really shows how racism is still alive in the housing market and how it can hold back Black families from building wealth. Nathan Connolly and his wife, Shani Mott, had put a lot of work into their home, including the $5,000 tankless water heater and $35,000 worth of other renovations. They were hoping to refinance their mortgage, especially with home prices going up nationwide. In Baltimore, home prices had risen 42% in just five years. But when they had their house appraised, the value came back at just $472,000, which was way less than what they expected.

Dr. Connolly who teaches at Johns Hopkins and researches redlining and racial inequality in housing, immediately knew why this happened (they’re Black). So, they tried again. This time, they took down family photos and had a white male colleague stand in for them when the appraiser came. This time, the house was valued at $750,000.

This case ties directly into the long history of racial discrimination in housing, especially redlining. Redlining was a practice that started in the 1930s when the federal government and banks refused to provide loans or insurance to Black people in certain neighborhoods, effectively making it impossible for them to buy homes or build wealth. The neighborhoods were literally marked in red on maps, and these practices continued for decades, even after they were outlawed. While redlining itself was banned in the 1960s its effects still linger today. Black families often face lower property values, fewer investment opportunities, and higher interest rates when trying to buy homes, and this makes it harder for them to build wealth compared to white families. In fact, the racial wealth gap has only grown wider over time, partly because of these housing practices.

The couple is now suing the appraisal company and the mortgage lender, and their case is a perfect example of how these old practices continue to affect Black families today. Even though the housing market is booming, racial inequality is still holding many families back from fair opportunities, and this issue deserves more attention. Black families deserve the same chances to build wealth and invest in their futures as anyone else, but discrimination in housing makes that incredibly difficult.