Ethics Questions

1. Name one thing that was interesting, compelling, or surprising to you about video #1. Be specific.

One of the most compelling aspects of the video was the historical context and the concrete figures presented about the value of enslaved people and the economic implications of their forced labor. It was shocking to realize that by 1863, enslaved people were a $3 billion business, a considerable sum in those days, proving how entwined slavery was with the US economy (Racial wealth gap Netflix, 2020). The subsequent discussion on Special Field Order No. 15, which proposed to give forty acres of land to each freed slave family, points to a critical juncture that could have permanently distanced America from its past and provided African Americans with a means for establishing themselves independently. The fast reversal of this scheme by President Andrew Johnson, which removed formerly enslaved people from the land they were promised, showed the systematic impediments to black wealth accumulation. This stunning illustration shows how historical injustices perpetuate the racial wealth divide.

1. Name one thing that was interesting, compelling, or surprising to you about video #2. Be specific.

One particularly compelling aspect of the video was the detailed explanation of how the federal government's policies, such as those implemented by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Home Owner's Loan Corporation (HOLC), intentionally excluded Black Americans from home ownership (Housing discrimination: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), 2021). This exclusion was not only natural but consciously practiced in acts such as redlining, whereby any community with even a single Black resident was considered unsuitable for mortgage lending. This institutional racism affected the quality of black communities, job opportunities, and, therefore, the racial wealth divide throughout the subsequent decades. The case that was shown of Bruce’s Beach, where the Klan had harassed a Black family out of their business with the help of eminent domain, helped illustrate that such egregious deeds endure and reparations are often far from satisfying.

1. What is redlining? How is it a racial project? Refer to the Omi & Winant reading to help you with this question.

Redlining is a discriminatory practice that emerged in the United States during the 1930s, wherein banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions refused or limited loans, mortgages, and insurance within specific geographic areas, particularly those inhabited by racial minorities. This practice was pioneered by the HOLC, which stigmatized maps with red highlighting red-lined regions that were deemed as high risk and overwhelmingly populated by black and minority groups. Concerning Omi and Winant's account in their book, Racial Formation in the United States, redlining is a racial project because it maintains and produces races and racism by articulating and policing them (Omi & Winant, 2014). Through the restrictions of minority employment, business, and housing opportunities, redlining condemned these communities to poverty and effectively erased their political influence, integrating these minorities into America’s social order according to the prevailing racist paradigm.