Redlining, Mass Incarceration, and the New Jim Crow
By Noah Dean
Slavery never truly ended—it evolved. It rebranded. It found new disguises in laws, policies, and financial systems designed to keep Black Americans trapped in a cycle of poverty, criminalization, and disenfranchisement. The chains were replaced with bank loans. The auction block became the courtroom. The plantation turned into the prison system. Jim Crow wasn’t defeated; it was repackaged. And today, it continues to do exactly what it was designed to do: keep power out of Black hands.
Redlining: The Economic Cage That Built a Racial Wealth Gap
America was built on land ownership, yet the system made sure that Black Americans could never compete. Beginning in the 1930s, redlining—a government-backed strategy—systematically blocked Black families from homeownership, the single biggest driver of generational wealth.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) explicitly refused to insure mortgages in Black neighborhoods while subsidizing white homeownership in the suburbs.
Banks and real estate agents refused to sell homes to Black families, and if they did, they inflated prices and imposed predatory loan terms that guaranteed foreclosure.
The GI Bill, which helped millions of white veterans buy homes after WWII, was systematically denied to Black veterans. (Brookings)
The result? A racial wealth gap so extreme that today, the median white family has 10 times the wealth of the median Black family. The neighborhoods that were redlined decades ago? They are still suffering from underfunded schools, low property values, and lack of economic investment. Meanwhile, white families have been able to pass down generational wealth built on property ownership.
The War on Drugs: Mass Incarceration by Design
In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a War on Drugs, calling drugs “public enemy number one.” What he didn’t say? It was never about drugs. It was about controlling Black communities. In 1994, Nixon’s domestic policy chief, John Ehrlichman, admitted:
“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be Black, but by getting the public to associate the Black community with heroin and criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities.” (Harper’s Magazine)
From there, the floodgates opened:
The 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act created sentencing disparities so severe that possession of 5 grams of crack (used predominantly in Black communities) got the same sentence as 500 grams of powder cocaine (used in white communities).
Three-strikes laws and mandatory minimum sentencing sent nonviolent drug offenders to prison for decades while corporate criminals who stole millions walked free.
Private prisons exploded, profiting off the incarceration of Black bodies while corporations like McDonald’s, AT&T, and Walmart used prison labor for pennies an hour. (ACLU)
Today, the U.S. has 5% of the world’s population but 25% of its prison population. And despite making up only 13% of the U.S. population, Black Americans make up nearly 40% of the incarcerated.
The “New” Jim Crow: Felony Disenfranchisement and Economic Exclusion
After slavery was abolished, Southern states passed Black Codes, laws designed to re-enslave Black Americans by criminalizing everything from unemployment to minor offenses. Those same tactics are alive today.
Felony disenfranchisement: Nearly 5 million Americans (disproportionately Black) are barred from voting due to felony convictions. (Brennan Center)
Employment discrimination: Many jobs legally refuse to hire applicants with criminal records, creating a permanent underclass of jobless Black men.
Police surveillance: Black communities are overpoliced while white neighborhoods enjoy leniency. A 2023 study found that Black drivers are twice as likely to be pulled over despite being less likely to carry contraband. (Stanford Open Policing Project)
Where Do We Go From Here?
The racial wealth gap, mass incarceration, and legal discrimination did not happen by accident—they were built by policy. They must be dismantled by policy. That means:
Ending Predatory Lending and Housing Discrimination
Federal intervention to correct discriminatory housing policies.
Financial literacy and first-time homeowner programs tailored to Black communities.
Reparations—not as charity, but as an economic correction for generations of exclusion.
Abolishing Private Prisons and Reforming Sentencing Laws
End mandatory minimums that disproportionately target Black offenders.
Abolish cash bail, which keeps thousands of innocent Black people in jail simply because they are too poor to afford freedom.
Stop corporations from profiting off prison labor.
Restoring Voting Rights and Economic Inclusion
Automatic voting rights restoration for those who have served their time.
Ban employment discrimination against people with criminal records.
Community reinvestment in historically redlined neighborhoods.
Conclusion: The System is Still Working Exactly as Designed
Redlining was never about property—it was about control. Mass incarceration was never about crime—it was about labor. The criminal justice system was never about justice—it was about power. Jim Crow never left; he just put on a new suit.
The question is not if this system is broken—it is who it was built to serve. And until we acknowledge this truth, we will continue to watch history repeat itself, generation after generation.
The time for change is long overdue.
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