There are many other areas where although housing discrimination was not specifically named redlining, there were still very similar episodes in which people were prohibited from housing investments, or even the right to live in an ideal, adequate home. For example in Italy, Italian authorities enforce segregation on Roma. They seclude them in ethnically segregated camps surrounded by fences with hardly any access to resources. "Rome’s municipal authorities have been running a discriminatory two-track assisted housing system that is denying thousands of Roma people access to adequate housing, said Amnesty International in a report published today"(Amnesty International, 2013).
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In South America, there was also an ongoing similar crisis that happened in the United States. Banks were not supposed to lend low income communities investments after the FHA was passed in the U.S. In South Africa, the bank negligence was very similar to how it used to be in the U.S, “More than 15 million South Africans cannot use banks.” In the early 2000’s, “SA BANKS [have] not yet abandon the controversial practice of redlining specific property areas, saying that as it stands it would be ‘irresponsible’ to start lending to people in certain dysfunctional’ areas” (Rose, 2002). This is very similar to the redlining practice that existed here in the U.S.
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This reminds me of the Jewish and Native American genocide: the part where Jewish people were put into concentration camps, while Native Americans were placed on reservations. It is appalling to read that similar ideas are being practiced because it is assumed that this act is prohibited, however there are still ignorant minds in the world whose feelings are anesthetized to people being oppressed. Although this situation in which these people are in is more severe, the overall notion is the same. People are still being deprived from the essential need of adequate housing because of ethnicity. In India, there is an ongoing housing crisis, “there are 90,000 homeless or under housed Indian families” (Native American Aid, 2015). They also live on reservations. It is truly disturbing to know that things like this are ongoing today. It is sad to think that people here in the United States are living in poverty, but there are people who are living in other countries who have it ten times worse and live below the poverty line. They are also discriminated and unwanted even in their own origin countries.
These global issues are interconnected because in the end, we can clearly see that white people and the countries minus the people of color were benefiting from redlining through wealth and land ownership. It is important to understand the interconnections between these global issues because it is important to recognize that the United States is not the only corrupt country. There are other countries whose goals are also to make money and in order to do that, people of color should be manipulated to keep them at “inferior” levels. The reason why it is so difficult to address global issues is because people have not yet addressed local issues. Therefore we cannot help another country who is dealing with a housing crisis when low income communities here in the United States are still under developed. If the U.S is not helping its own inhabitants with their housing problems, then I believe that the U.S is not capable of helping other countries with similar or even worse conditions. We need to think globally, but act locally. |