What practice involved denying mortgages in areas predominantly inhabited by specific ethnic groups?

Redlining refers to the practice where mortgage lenders would refuse to offer loans or would offer loans under less favorable terms to residents of certain areas, predominantly affecting neighborhoods inhabited by specific ethnic groups, especially African Americans. This term originated from the practice of using red ink to outline areas on maps that were deemed high-risk for lending.

The practice of redlining was systemic and institutionalized, often codified by governmental policies and supported by various financial institutions. It effectively restricted access to home loans for entire communities based on race or ethnicity, which contributed to long-term economic disadvantages for those groups and reinforced patterns of segregation.

In contrast to other terms, white flight refers to the phenomenon of white residents moving out of neighborhoods when African Americans or other ethnic minorities moved in, which was a response to desegregation rather than a denial of mortgage access. Segregation is a broader concept relating to the separation of groups, often enforced by laws or social norms, but does not specifically refer to mortgage practices. Gentrification describes a process in which urban neighborhoods undergo transformation, usually leading to the displacement of lower-income residents as the area becomes more desirable, but it does not involve the systematic denial of mortgages based on ethnicity. Therefore, redlining is the most accurate choice