Redlining’s impact on city’s Black neighborhoods detailed online

Posted on April 24, 2023

Redlining, a government-sanctioned practice of racially discriminatory mortgage lending, began in the 1930s and continues to influence communities today. A new feature in the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis (EOI), released in November and titled “Residential Segregation in Indianapolis: Who lives where and why,” outlines the history of redlining in Indianapolis and its current implications. This feature, contributed by local historian Jordan Ryan, reveals how the past shapes the present.

Jordan explains: “Redlining created cultural and financial dynamics that favored white and middle-class homebuyers while adversely affecting racial and economic minorities. The city’s African American community felt this impact most strongly, not for a few years but for decades.”

The EOI includes an interactive map for users to explore how redlining affected their neighborhoods. It is a good example of how anyone can use the Encyclopedia interactively to understand more about Indianapolis today. Find the redlining feature here.

An outstanding partnership of donors made the EOI possible for our community. They include: Lilly Endowment Inc.; Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation, Inc.; The Indianapolis Foundation Library Fund; R.B. Annis Educational Foundation; Nicholas H. Noyes, Jr. Memorial Foundation, Inc.; M. Jacqueline Nytes; and Anonymous and other donors to The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation.