AP African American Studies Flashcards: Redlining and Housing Discrimination
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Review key ideas with interactive flashcards. This set includes 16 cards to help you master important concepts.
How did African American communities respond to inadequate public transportation?
They responded by operating jitneys (small buses providing taxi services) and starting their own bus companies.
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How did African American communities respond to inadequate public transportation?
They responded by operating jitneys (small buses providing taxi services) and starting their own bus companies.
What was the significance of the FHA's Underwriting Manual of 1938?
It was significant because it officially codified housing segregation into federal policy, making racial discrimination in housing a standard practice.
What is the relationship between housing segregation and transportation inequality?
Predominantly Black areas created by housing segregation often lacked sufficient public transportation, and the segregated services that did exist remained unequal.
What were jitneys in the context of segregated African American communities?
Jitneys were small buses that provided taxi services, operated by African Americans as an alternative to racially segregated and unequal public transportation.
What risk did African Americans face when moving into well-resourced, predominantly white neighborhoods?
African Americans who integrated into these neighborhoods sometimes became the targets of mob violence.
How did housing discrimination intensify preexisting racial disparities?
By segregating African Americans into areas with poor infrastructure, it worsened existing inequalities in access to transportation, healthcare, and healthy food.
What was the Fair Housing Act of 1968?
It was a landmark law passed to fight the widespread housing discrimination that had been codified by federal policies and practiced by mortgage lenders.
How did the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) institutionalize housing segregation?
The FHA's Underwriting Manual of 1938 codified housing segregation by including restrictions that made it illegal for African Americans to live in many communities.
Which civil rights organization was instrumental in fighting for the Fair Housing Act?
The NAACP fought housing discrimination, which was a key factor leading to the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968.
What justification did mortgage lenders use for redlining?
Lenders used the pretense that communities of color posed a 'hazardous' financial risk to justify withholding mortgages.
Besides access to services, what other infrastructure was often lacking in redlined communities?
These communities often lacked sufficient infrastructure for public transportation and had limited access to recreational spaces.
What major piece of legislation was passed in 1968 to combat housing discrimination?
The Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968, largely due to the efforts of organizations like the NAACP fighting housing discrimination.
How did housing discrimination lead to health disparities along racial lines?
It confined many African Americans to communities with limited access to clean water, healthy food, and healthcare services, which exacerbated health problems.
What is redlining?
Redlining is the discriminatory practice of withholding mortgages from African Americans and other people of color within a defined geographical area under the pretense of 'hazardous' financial risk.
What was a major long-term economic effect of housing discrimination on African Americans?
It restricted their access to home ownership, which in turn limited their ability to accumulate and pass on wealth to their descendants.
A Black family in 1955 is denied a mortgage for a home in a specific neighborhood, with the lender calling the area a 'hazardous' risk. What practice is this an example of?
This is an example of redlining, the discriminatory practice of withholding mortgages in certain geographical areas based on racial composition.