Monday, September 09, 2013

[012] ‘MTSU On the Record’ examines housing discrimination



MURFREESBORO — The next edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program takes a look at the history of racial discrimination in home loans.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Louis Woods, assistant professor of history, will air from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Monday, July 22, and from 8 to 8:30 a.m. Sunday, July 28, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org).

In an article for the Journal of Urban History, Woods chronicled the Federal Home Loan Bank Board’s discriminatory practices from 1921 to 1950.

Woods asserts that the agency’s methods considered neighborhood demographics a huge factor in assessing property values. The effect was to label entire residential areas as bad loan risks because the inhabitants, usually minorities, were considered “undesirable.”   

Even middle-class neighborhoods surrounding historically black colleges and universities received lower assessments by comparison to middle-class neighborhoods surrounding predominantly white institutions, said Woods.

To listen to previous programs, go to the “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

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