Books in the Historical Studies of Urban America series

"The story of how American banks helped disenfranchise nonwhite urbanities and condemn to blight the very neighborhoods that needed the most investment is infuriating. And yet, by digging into the history of urban finance, Rebecca Marchiel here illuminates how urban activists changed some banks' behavior to support investment in communities that they had once abandoned. These developments, in turn, affected federal urban policy and reshaped banks' understanding of the role that urban communities play in the financial system. The legacy of reinvestment activism is clouded, but Marchiel's detailing of it transforms our understanding of the history and significance of community/bank relations"--

When we think of segregation, what often comes to mind is apartheid South Africa, or the American South in the age of Jim Crow - two societies fundamentally premised on the concept of the separation of the races. In this title, the author shows us that segregation is everywhere, deforming cities and societies worldwide.