Bibliography

Detroit Research

U.S. Census Bureau & Opportunity Insights. (2024). Opportunity Atlas: Household income and incarceration for children from low-income households by census tract, race, and gender [Data set; Module 1 revision]. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ces/data/public-use-data/opportunity-atlas-data-tables.html

The Opportunity Atlas merges census microdata with IRS tax records to trace the adult outcomes of U.S. children born between 1978 and 1983. The “Table 1” tranche used here reports, for every 2010 census tract, the mean adult-income rank (kfr) and incarceration rate of children whose parents were at the 25th national income percentile, broken down by race and gender, along with counts of such children. Because the data are privacy-protected with differential noise below one-tenth of each estimate’s standard error, they remain reliable at the tract scale while safeguarding confidentiality. For this project, the per-race child counts serve as the numerator in a low-income child density metric, and the kfr variables power choropleths of intergenerational mobility. Strengths include national coverage and a clear design that effectively ties childhood place to adult outcomes. Limitations stem from a temporal lag (childhood location is fixed at 2000), a focus on only the 25th percentile of parental income, and the suppression of smaller minority categories. Despite these constraints, the Atlas provides an exceptional lens on spatial opportunity, making it essential for linking historical redlining to contemporary mobility prospects.

Nelson, R. K., Winling, L. C., Connolly, N. D. B., & Ayers, E. L. (2018). Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America (Version 1.0) [Interactive map & dataset]. Digital Scholarship Lab, University of Richmond. https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/

Mapping Inequality digitizes the HOLC’s “residential security” maps, graded A (“Best”) to D (“Hazardous”), which institutionalized redlining across 239 U.S. cities. The Detroit shapefile, originally scanned and georectified by the project team, captures both polygon boundaries and textual area descriptions. In the Detroit module, we intersect these 1939 polygons with 2020 tract geometries to visualize the lingering footprint of federal housing discrimination. The dataset’s value lies in its spatial precision and rich metadata (neighborhood descriptions, assessor notes), enabling granular comparison with modern socioeconomic indicators. However, HOLC maps cover only mortgage-eligible urban territory; many Black neighborhoods that were never surveyed appear as data voids, and HOLC grades do not fully encapsulate earlier or subsequent private-sector redlining. Furthermore, map boundaries occasionally misalign with modern tracts, necessitating cautious clipping and projection. Even so, this source provides the historical scaffolding against which contemporary child-density and mobility patterns can be read, grounding our narrative in a tangible policy lineage.

U.S. Census Bureau (2024).  TIGER/Line shapefiles: 2020 census tracts (tl_2020_26_tract.shp) and 2024 Wayne-County roads (tl_2024_26163_roads.shp) [Shapefiles]. https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/tiger-line-file.html

TIGER/Line is the Census Bureau’s authoritative topological database for U.S. geographic features. We employ the 2020 tract file to anchor all socioeconomic data spatially, ensuring compatibility with Opportunity Atlas FIPS codes, and the 2024 roads layer to furnish cartographic context (primary highways through pedestrian trails). The strengths of TIGER include nationwide consistency, annual updates, and public-domain licensing. Its tracts provide stable areal units for density calculations, while functional road classes aid visual orientation without overwhelming thematic layers. Limitations relevant to our study include occasional minor geometry errors, generalized road shapes at small scales, and the fact that administrative boundaries can change between decennial censuses. These issues are mitigated here by reprojecting everything to UTM zone 16 N and clipping it to the Detroit city limits. TIGER’s neutrality serves as the connective tissue, allowing disparate historical and social datasets to coexist on a single basemap.

Sugrue, T. J. (2005). “Detroit’s Time Bomb”: Race and Housing in the 1940s. In The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit - Updated Edition (REV-Revised, pp. 115–150). Princeton University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wpzvr.10

Chapter 2, “Detroit’s Time Bomb,” examines how postwar policies contributed to the perpetuation of racial inequalities in Detroit's housing market during the 1940s. Sugrue argues that deterioration and increasing prices of rentable housing are due to racial discrimination rather than Black individuals' failure (Sugrue, 2005, p. 144). This leads to an intersection between racialization and housing discrimination, leading to the decline of Black neighborhoods in Detroit.

Sugrue enhances the historical context and data analysis by providing differing metrics of how redlining can affect a city. In Detroit, redlining was not fueled by environmental disasters or public transportation dreams but through a system that segregated Black families and reduced their dreams for economic mobility (Sugrue, 2005, p. 117). In this context of urbanization, Sugrue's work highlights the need to consider not only how Black populations were affected but also how White populations responded to these changes. However, particular areas of Detroit faced higher inequalities like Black Bottom, white NIMBY behavior, and GI Bill policies, also where each race could afford to live (Sugrue, 2005, p. 118). The argument presented in the chapter reminds us to look into how the majority groups treated the minority groups, rather than assuming that looking at mortgage or lending statistics could provide the complete story as to why Black families stayed in some regions of the city. However, the piece’s limitation is once again its specificity to Detroit, which may lead to potential issues with the overarching theory.

Detroit Research Summary

Together, these sources outline how redlining in Detroit evolved from its historical context to its quantitative metrics. On the qualitative side, Sugrue offers an account of Detroit in the post-war era, specifically the early days after redlining had solidified. The narrative outlines how current conditions, such as the permanent decline in Black homeownership seen in the 21st century, are products of decades earlier. His work points us to look at the effect of the G.I. Bill and white NIMBY policies that kept Black Detroiters stuck in a cycle of disproportionate housing inequality and created inner-city confinement. To complement this historical narrative, we visually illustrate racial disparities in housing through quantitative insights, as revealed by the incarceration rate and adult income. 

We begin with the original HOLC map and then overlay Census data, which provides a visual representation of the correlation between redlining and adult income. The Opportunity Altas displays how the same areas determined as "hazardous" by the HOLC maps have high disparities between white and Black populations with incomes and higher rent prices. This disparity highlights how racially charged documentation has led to proven surveyed disparities between populations, suggesting that the qualitative stories individuals may try to reveal the truth about how disparity becomes entrenched in city and intergenerational conditions. The Tiger/Line shapefiles provide a connection to our other case studies for future research inquiries regarding how transportation infrastructure may appear to be a neutral urban policy for city betterment. However, once its decisions are analyzed, a correlation emerges with a white supremacist order, which still has adverse effects on Black residents. For example, throughout all our cities, including Detroit, the neighborhoods most affected by highways or public transit have higher Black populations. Thus, our sources together offer that Detroit's redlining never ended in 1968 with the Fair Housing Act but continued through changing policy, and this narrative is proven by Census data that offers disparities between white and Black economic success and where transportation infrastructure was built.

New Orleans Research

Yawn, A. (2024, November 11). New study links historical redlining to delays in HIV treatment. Tulane University News. https://news.tulane.edu/pr/new-study-links-historical-redlining delays-hiv-treatment 

[original study for reference] Bassler, J. R., Wang, Q., & Williams, S. M. (2024). Redlining and time to viral suppression among persons with HIV. JAMA Internal Medicine, 184(11), e235–e243. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.5003 

This source summarizes the outcomes and underlying importance of a study conducted by Tulane University researchers. The study examined access to HIV treatment in New Orleans neighborhoods, ultimately concluding that historically redlined parts of the city had substantially more delayed access to HIV treatment. Many observations were made by the authors that linked historical underdevelopment in redlined areas to inequitable healthcare. As one author Scott Batey quotes, “HIV is, in many ways, a disease of poverty” (Yawn, 2024, para. 6). The study found that the median time to viral suppression, or treatment with AVT therapy, was about 18% higher for residents in redlined areas (Bassler et al., 2024, para. 8). The authors use this finding to illustrate their argument about systemic racism in urban New Orleans, as urban infrastructure and modernization did little to mitigate the historical impacts of redlining. As the general public understands it, though, the relationship between health outcomes and human imprint on urban infrastructure is murky. Regardless, history is preserved in the inequality of health outcomes throughout New Orleans. This publication leaves much to be explored in the way of bridging gaps between neighborhoods and improving equality of access to not only health care but also economic opportunities and basic necessities. These situations may be exacerbated by natural disasters and persistent socioeconomic friction, on which the authors demonstrate limited perspective. Accordingly, our project hones in on relationships between socioeconomic rifts and preexisting health status disparities preserved through policy.

Kelman, A. (2005, December 15). In the shadow of disaster. The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/shadow-disaster/

The true interaction between environment and infrastructure is unraveled in this piece by professor Ari Kelman of UC Davis. The harsh reality of the matter is that environmental disasters, regardless of physical damage to particular areas, leave longer-lasting anthropogenic impacts on historically under-resourced and underrepresented communities. In New Orleans, early human interaction with the environment in the mid-20th century manifested in the “segrega[tion] of spaces,” as Kelman quips, not just racially, but also environmentally. Levees, sponge-like wetlands, and bridges locked horns with low-lying altitude and ecological constraints. However, Kelman proclaims that all of this “environmental segregation” contributed to further socioeconomic segregation (Kelman, 2005, paras. 9-12). Gentrification and environmental modifications exiled poorer, minority residents to more undesirable living spaces. This story is all too similar to redlining, which forced marginalized communities to stay in underdeveloped, underfinanced, and under resourced neighborhoods. Katrina exacerbated some of these problems, as recovery efforts mobilized and once again, the focus was on the environment but not its inhabitants. One striking quote is that “thirty-eight of greater New Orleans’ forty-nine poorest districts flooded” while “80 percent” of those neighborhoods were occupied by non-white residents (Kelman, 2005, para. 12). This investigation implies that there is much to be desired in urban infrastructure and human understanding of the residual impacts of segregational policy like redlining, which we perceive in-depth through our project. The real issue at hand is finding a way to balance environmental and social equity, while recognizing that “the past is the past” is simply an ill-advised platitude in this context. Some limitations might include a focus on environmental history and barriers to rehabilitation rather than a focus on policy and restructuring the housing system. These resolutions are instead described in the piece by Frymer et al. discussed next. Environmental history need not taint the cultural history of New Orleans, if changes can be made and such limitations in opinion can be addressed.

Frymer, P., Katznelson, I., & Roberts, A. (2006, June 11). Katrina’s political roots and divisions: Race, class, and federalism in American politics. Items: Insights from the Social Sciences. https://items.ssrc.org/understanding-katrina/katrinas-political-roots-and-divisions-race-class-and-federalism-in-american-politics/ 

While redlining and forced relocation initially shaped racial disparity in New Orleans, modern policy continues to keep it unchecked. In this article, the authors describe the residual impacts of racialized poverty after Hurricane Katrina, arguing that complex interactions between federal and state jurisdiction make policy even more obfuscated. As a result of these clashes, policy makers have to yield to prevailing interests. In particular, in the South, “even those political actors who support the expansion of racial and economic justice have had to make political calculations that work against such goals” (Frymer et al., 2006, paras. 9-10). Policymakers want to win the majority, but the hidden cost is that important tie-breaking votes run counter to minority interests. This enables inequality to persist across Southern metropoles. The privileged maintain their dominance over policy, while minority communities suffer from a neglected voice. Frymer et al. 's critique of Southern politics opens up a new perspective: is redistricting and reassigning minorities to different, more privileged areas the solution, or is it instead rooted in federalism and its chokehold on policy, turning it into policy by the privileged for the privileged? Our project acknowledges the necessity of inclusion in policy, matching regional policy shortfalls to economic outcomes in each city using temporal narration. We use a timeline to illustrate demonstrable historical impacts of policy in New Orleans, Detroit, and Oakland. The authors primarily focus on the repercussions of policy in the urban South, where Katrina recovery efforts were primarily observed. This poses an interesting limitation that we deftly handle by examining policy inequity in urban areas of multiple regions - the South, Midwest, and West.   

Seicshnaydre, S., Collins, R. A., Hill, C., & Ciardullo, M. (2018). Rigging the real estate market: Segregation, inequality, and disaster risk. The Data Center. https://www.datacenterresearch.org/reports_analysis/rigging-the-real-estate-market-segregation-inequality-and-disaster-risk/ 

This report, written by The Data Center, a New Orleans research group, and the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, discusses how certain Black communities in New Orleans have experienced “lock[ed] in disadvantage” as a result of “artificial racial segregation”. As this report discusses, homeownership and mortgages were made very accessible to new white homeowners in New Orleans, whereas Black applicants were often refused mortgages. After World War II, returning Black GIs were often barred from buying homes in the new postwar suburban sprawl, and already existing Black neighborhoods in New Orleans like the Lower Ninth Ward were developed without getting commercial loans. The report also discusses discriminatory practices like covenants and “codes of ethics” that urged realtors not to integrate into white-majority neighborhoods “members of any race or nationality … whose presence will clearly be detrimental to property values”. This report is useful for specifically contextualizing the practice of redlining in New Orleans and expanding the concept of redlining beyond just the term. It demonstrates that even if the specific practice of “redlining” ended with the passage of the Fair Housing Act, discriminatory and segregating practices still remain in New Orleans and are continued by modern policy decisions, like the post-Katrina rebuilding of New Orleans.

Aune, K. T., Gesch, D., & Smith, G. S. (2020). A spatial analysis of climate gentrification in Orleans Parish, Louisiana post–Hurricane Katrina. Environmental Research, 185, 109384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109384

The paper studies the effect of “climate gentrification” in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina by analyzing various New Orleans neighborhoods in terms of their flooding severity, elevation, and other metrics like minority population and unemployment, predicting that gentrification would be strongly correlated with flooding severity and elevation. The study found that those who lived in neighborhoods that were more likely to be gentrified after Hurricane Katrina were more likely to be Black and unemployed, as well as more likely to rent their home rather than own it outright. After gentrification, however, these neighborhoods had far more white college-graduate residents employed in high-paying jobs. The study also found that it was less likely for low-lying, easily-flooded neighborhoods to be gentrified, but lower-lying neighborhoods with more white residents before Hurricane Katrina found themselves with more Black residents after the hurricane. Additionally, the neighborhoods that were gentrified after the hurricane actually saw economic growth through capital investments in housing stock and low-interest business loans, which, according to the study, only served to “intensify the disparities in vulnerability to future extreme weather events” (Aune, 2020, p. 7). This study is useful for quantifiably demonstrating how Black and poor neighborhoods in New Orleans received the short end of the stick in the reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina, and the maps and raw data provided in the study can be correlated with one of the main datasets used in this project, the original 1937 redlining maps.

New Orleans Research Summary

Altogether, these sources offer different perspectives on the roots of inequity in New Orleans, a city at our project’s center. Additionally, each source suggests key infrastructural changes that may ameliorate the inequity between marginalized and affluent white neighborhoods. For instance, Kelman’s argument positions New Orleans against a backdrop of misappropriation and subjugation. Mid-1900s redlining and environmental reconstruction that occurred post-redlining muted the voices of African Americans. Without a say in the matter, black Americans were relegated to inferior living spaces, and the policy shortfalls described by Frymer et al. preserved these conditions. The Seicshnaydre report specifically lists the segregation policies employed in New Orleans to separate Black communities from the same development that white communities had, and it describes how these practices still continue today even though there has been legislation passed to try and abate this kind of discrimination, while the Aune paper studies the gentrification of neighborhoods in New Orleans as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Even today, marginalized communities in the city fail to comprise the pivotal votes that Frymer et al. allude to. Their voices are neither represented in policy, nor do they ever get a fair chance at representation, as even activist politicians are forced to squander their votes in the modern-day federalist political regime. As a result, major consequences of redlining are ignored by policy. Poor health outcomes persist in historically redlined neighborhoods; as Tulane University found, HIV patients in such neighborhoods have unequal access to treatment. Our research question seeks to use temporal and geospatial storytelling to document redlining’s evolution into infrastructure inequality. But, at its core, it pokes holes in modern policy making, which leaves no room for the voices of historically redlined communities. Our context-dependent visualizations rely on the recommendations implicit in these sources. Ultimately, these sources richly support a glaring call to action within our methodology, pre-visualization process, and project narrative.

Oakland Research

Self, R. O. (2003). Redistribution. In American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Oakland (STU-Student edition, pp. 135–176). Princeton University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hhq2x.10

Chapter 4, Redistribution, in American Babylon, discusses the urbanization of Oakland after World War II and its imposition on Black communities in West Oakland. These redevelopment policies were meant to combat high-poverty regions of the city but ended up destroying Black neighborhoods economically and through the demolition of transportation infrastructure (Self, 2003, p. 149).

The historical context of economic and social destruction supports project mapping efforts by providing a clear link between urbanization and the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) "hazardous" neighborhoods as depicted on their 1930s redlining maps. Self's analysis of how an economically thriving area descended into "slums" informs how neighborhoods acted before the definition of redlining (Self, 2003, p. 138). The idea is that redlining maps are static and have created no lasting effects after their reversal. The redlining project maps and timelines trends of how spatial marginalization has affected Black and minority communities from their origins to modern systemic inequality. This exploration also adjusts the methodology, as the research question examines different metrics of how racial disparities have persisted without considering masking under the guise of progress. Although inequalities become apparent in mortgage denial or incarceration rates, programs that are meant to revitalize also have the capacity to harm minority-majority neighborhoods without explicitly mentioning how inequality may be perpetuated. This readjustment is one consideration of how inequality becomes hidden. However, this specific utilization may only apply to Oakland, given its focus on transportation compared to other communities, such as New Orleans.

Flynn, D., & City of Oakland. (n.d.). Oakland’s history of resistance to racism. City of Oakland. 

  https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/oaklands-history-of-resistance-to-racism

This article is a succinct, yet detailed overview of how systemic racism and community resilience knits the social and infrastructural landscapes of Oakland. It presents an anthology of oppressive acts from history: the ruination of Ohlone communities; effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act; the start of redlining and gentrification and their severe impact on Black and Latino neighborhoods. Transportation projects that are seen as advancing the community—the 880 freeway, Cypress Viaduct, and the construction of the West Oakland BART plaza—officially fragmented Oakland instead. Brief mention is given to residents mobilizing themselves to fight for policy change establishing racial equity initiatives. 

Flynn et al.’s article provides the perfect starting point in understanding redlining and presenting Oakland as a candidate for anchoring its harmful legacy. It is scathingly clear, accessible, and credible, all of which are required for DH to remain ethical and accessible. The Department of Race and Equity Staff at the City of Oakland have written it on their municipal page so it offers reliable and publicly endorsed historical context. It reads as a call for advocacy and is supported by verifiable events and local urban development history. They had a clear goal in mind when writing this prelude to redlining, making sure that residents, policy, and urban planners are aware and understand the embedded racial inequality in Oakland to ensure that they can galvanize an equity-focused policy reform.

This article can serve as anchors to our project and offers multiple points of entry by including how infrastructure is weaponized under redlining logics to divide communities. It shows that redlining is not just seen in its canonical form as the denial of buying houses, but as a broader regime that dictates who can thrive. There is emphasis on infrastructure projects and their sociopolitical consequences which will support our comparative approach. We can use this to establish West Oakland as a baseline for review which allows us to see the cascading effects of racial planning. It frames our narrative to be understood as a multifaceted system of dispossession and shows why we need this project in our lives; these hidden impacts must be made legible in conversations and calls to action now.  

Romero, E. D. (2023, May 30). Advocates: Reparations are the answer for sea-level threat in West Oakland, Calif. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/30/1177050378/advocates-reparations-is-the-answer-for-sea-level-threat-in-west-oakland-calif 

I think this article provides a unique point of view and approaches redlining at a different angle. It answers a question that I think is rarely asked: how does climate change and sea-level rise disproportionately threaten historically redlined neighborhoods like West Oakland? It highlights local advocacy efforts and pushes for reparations and climate justice as intertwined solutions. The article illustrates how these communities were originally built in flood-prone zones due to racist housing policies and how residents today face the dual burden of climate risk and underinvestment. Activists argue that true climate resilience requires not just infrastructure upgrades, but reparative justice that accounts for historical harm. The piece includes interviews with community members and scholars who connect redlining, environmental vulnerability, and contemporary policy responses.

As a nationally recognized news outlet, we are sure that NPR is credible and accessible; investigative journalism that highlights community voices is particularly helpful when employing Data Feminism. It acts as a bridge between the present and the past, linking redlining’s legacy directly to modern environmental precocity. As a nationally recognized news outlet, NPR provides reliable and well-edited content, though the piece might carry some bias as it is clearly framed through a social justice lens. While not academic, it includes expert commentary and presents complex issues in a clear, nuanced way.

The source expands our current focus, and it is important to cover our bases in case we want to look beyond housing and transportation into environmental accessibility and racism—climate change does not “just” happen; it disproportionately affects marginalized communities. It shows that West Oakland’s vulnerability is a result of redlining, giving substance to our focus on making visible the salient points and cascading effects. We can use this to show how spatio-environmental risks are socially constructed and historically inherited. The reparations argument might be the throughline that can thread all the cities: how would cities repair the damage done in redlining (i.e. housing, infrastructure, or environmental safety)? In all, the source would help underscore redlining as a complex system with ongoing and material consequences.

State of Black Education Oakland. The Color of Law and the Geography of Opportunity in West Oakland, https://cao-94612.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/The-Color-of-  Law-and-the-Geography-of-Opportunity-in-West-Oakland.pdf

This source is a blog style report, and it investigates how West Oakland’s geography was significantly shaped by the racist housing and infrastructure policies. The source includes archival records, redlining maps of Oakland and policy analysis and it details how the federal, and local governments created segregation through the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), zoning regulations and transportation construction as well. These methods also had the intended effect of devaluing Black-owned property as well. This source overall focuses on the history of redlining in Oakland and the variety of impacts it has on society and the environment. 

I think that the source itself is a credible and detailed source that is focused on legal history and archival evidence. In addition, it’s also published by the City of Oakland which further supports its credibility and suggests that it’s highly reliable. I think another thing to take into consideration is that the tone of the source is analytical and objective, with the main focus on understanding and uncovering the systemic nature of the segregation seen in the housing policies and suggesting that the issue is started by the government. Another thing I noticed in the source is that it contains images, maps and statistics that depicted the impact of the policy. Which I think further suggests that this source would be a useful source for the project. I also think the source is objective as well because it wasn’t overly critical of the government but rather just focusing on the impact of the policy.

The information from this source can fit our research by providing information on the impact of the BART project on the Black community in Oakland. And allowing us to see other additional sources and information on this topic as well. In addition, this source plays a central role in our project temporal and spatial narrative that we are thinking about. This can be achieved because the source allows us to illustrate how discriminatory the housing policies were implemented and how it allows us to trace the inequality over time. In addition the source also provides us with visuals - which includes redlining maps and zoning documents - and statistics that we can incorporate into our project using arcGIS and creating interactive maps. This allows us to see the impact of the policies over time and you can see the present day outcomes as well. I think another important thing is that this source can help with the data analysis where it helps us understand and create the historical framework to ensure that we understand the impact on the demographics shift, environmental impacts and how the land is currently used. I think the source will definitely help us with creating the introduction of the project because it clearly highlights the beginning of the policy. Overall this source also helps us develop our storytelling and narrative of the topic as well.

Hirsch, L. (2023, November 5). The lines that Scar West Oakland. ArcGIS StoryMaps. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4b0d0ee723f0475e872dc1c87a4cad41

This ArcGIS StoryMap presents an interesting perspective on  how the expansion of federal highways in the mid-20th century disproportionately displaced Black communities across the American South. The source illustrates how infrastructure projects, particularly the construction of interstates, were often routed through thriving Black neighborhoods under the guise of urban policies. The source’s argue that these decisions were not incidental but intentional as a product of systemic racism from redlining that is still impacting the Black community in Oakland today.

The value of this source lies in its multimedia format, which establishes its credibility because we can also check for the facts of the source and also understand the article's own historical interpretation crucial to understanding infrastructure's racialized impact. For this project, this source is essential in building both the historical context and visual-narrative structure.However, one limitation is its regional focus on West Oakland which doesn’t provide a full understanding of other areas in Oakland as well. Additionally, it’s an insightful source, it could benefit from more information on policy analysis or include in counter-arguments from oppositions as well. Nonetheless, the source offers a strong foundation for in-depth events that our project focuses on.

This article complements other sources in the project by offering a visually rich and emotionally resonant narrative that highlights the intersection of infrastructure development and racial displacement. In the context of our project, we think this source will be especially useful when it comes to understanding the history and impact of infrastructures in Oakland. It also includes pictures as well alongside the information which would be helpful when it comes to creating our map because it would help us with distinguishing the areas on the map and see the locations of the infrastructure. Therefore it would help us with both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the project. With all the sources together it would help us create an insightful exploration of the urban displacement from redlining and infrastructure across all three cities that we chose to focus on in our project. In addition, this source specifically reveals how the current infrastructure and public transportation that we rely on came at the cost of the Black community in West Oakland, and how the current system today is built on this injustice. Synthesizing the information helps us raise critical questions about the topic.

Oakland Research Summary

With both sources, we are able to showcase the project’s core assertion: redlining, while traditionally rooted in discriminatory housing policy, has evolved into something much more complex; a spatio-temporal system of inequality propagated through infrastructure, environment, and access that has persisted in major cities across the US through. The City of Oakland’s introduction to racism in Oakland provides a foundational narrative into how all forms of racism, particularly redlining logics were employed, manifested, and materialized through urban transportation projects like the I-880 freeway, the West Oakland Bart station. All of this fractured what was a closely knit community under the guise of advancement and technological improvement. It allows us to treat West Oakland as the anchor in our comparative project as it is rich in documented racism as well as resistance. On the other hand, Romero actually focuses on climate vulnerability and showing how its precarity is not accidental, but an inherited issue that reeks of redlining and racist urban planning of a bygone era. (Re)presenting redline zones as places of ecological risk with a lack of investments to prevent flooding shifts our historical critique to a more intersectional approach, which is key in DH. 

Supporting our narrative is ArcGIS StoryMap “The Lines that Scar West Oakland” complements both sources by explicitly connecting mid-20th century federal highway expansion to the physical destruction of thriving marginalized communities, especially those in West Oakland. It elucidates how infrastructure through the form of improving the movement of humans was weaponized by redlining—not as beneficial development, but as deliberate displacement embedded in systemic racism. Its many forms of media help us understand the harmful lived experiences, while also supporting our spatial analysis through historical photographs and mapped locations. The ArcGIS platform reinforces the idea that the very transportation systems we depend on today are built on a foundation of racial erasure, enabling us to critically examine not only how injustice was built, but how it continues to structure space today.

Overall, these three allow us to create a trustworthy narrative that offers historical, spatial, and emotional insights into the redlining in Oakland. It shows an urban policy rooted in racial segregation and exclusion into a layered system of continued infrastructural inequality. Thus, Redlining’s legacy is not only in the old HOLC classification maps but reveals itself in cracks in climate policy. Therefore, as a pair, the sources do support our spatio-temporal approach to analyzing redlining’s effects across the contiguous US and help tie together physical infrastructure and environmental injustice.