The legacy of redlining has cast a long shadow on how Seattle has developed and continues to evolve. Beginning in the 1930s, racial discrimination in mortgage lending “redlined” areas on government maps. Boundaries were drawn using various types of criteria to assess risk, including race. The practice kept people of color out of neighborhoods in hundreds of cities across the country, including Seattle.
Join us for Seattle On The Line, a panel discussion examining the legacies of racial segregation in housing in Seattle and the complex dynamics playing out in our neighborhoods today, 6:30 p.m., Friday, July 12, at Northwest African American Museum (NAAM), 2300 S. Massachusetts St. Doors open at 6 p.m. Admission is free.
Seattle arts leader Leilaini Lewis will moderate a conversation about the history and impacts of redlining in Seattle. The panelists are housing advocate Xochitl Maykovich of Washington CAN; artist Jake Prendez of White Center’s Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery; activist Steve Sawada, co-founder of the Chinatown-International District (CID) Coalition; and local artist Warren Pope whose exhibition, “Blood Lines Time Lines Red Lines,” is on display at NAAM.
Despite the 1968 Fair Housing Act ban of racial discrimination in housing and today’s real estate boom, the lingering effects of segregation and racist housing policies remain.
The influx of people moving to Seattle has brought significant change to many of its neighborhoods. Rapid growth is shifting the city’s cultural, economic and demographic make-up, leading to displacement pressures on lower-income households and communities of color.
Seattle on the Line is co-presented by NAAM, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Wing Luke Museum and Seattle Channel. The event will include free access to NAAM exhibitions, including “Warren Pope: Blood Lines Time Lines Red Lines” and “Edwin T. Pratt: A Living Legacy.”
We will tape the conversation for rebroadcast on Seattle Channel cable TV 21 and will post the program to the web.
