Development of De Facto Segregation Against Black Americans in Levitt Estates (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes
Development of De Facto Segregation Against Black Americans in Levitt Estates
Introduction to de facto segregation in the North
After the Second World War ended in 1945, a new form of racial separation emerged in the northern and western United States. Unlike the de jure segregation (segregation by law) that existed in the Old South, this was de facto segregation (segregation in practice) - particularly in housing. This development was closely linked to suburban housing policies and the growth of new housing developments, especially the Levittowns.
This shift from legal segregation (de jure) to segregation in practice (de facto) made racial discrimination harder to challenge through the courts, as it was not explicitly written into law but was enforced through economic policies, housing practices, and social customs.
Key term - Restrictive covenant: A legal condition attached to property sales that prevented houses from being sold to black American families or individuals.
Key term - Levittown: Large-scale suburban housing developments built near New York City and in eastern Pennsylvania during the late 1940s and early 1950s. These became symbols of post-war American suburbia but deliberately excluded black Americans and other minority groups from purchasing homes.
Economic context of the 1950s
The 1950s marked a period of unprecedented economic prosperity in the United States, which fundamentally shaped patterns of housing and residential segregation.
Economic growth
The American economy experienced remarkable expansion:
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Gross National Product (GNP) rose dramatically:
- 1940: $227 billion
- 1950: $355 billion
- 1960: $448 billion
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Consumer credit (indicating personal purchasing power) surged:
- 1950: $8.4 billion
- 1960: $45 billion
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Wages increased across the board, enabling many Americans to afford home ownership for the first time.
Economic Growth Calculation:
To understand the scale of economic expansion, we can calculate the percentage increase in GNP from 1940 to 1960:
This means the American economy nearly doubled in size over just 20 years, creating enormous wealth - but this prosperity was not equally distributed.
Racial income disparities
However, this prosperity was not equally shared between white and black Americans. The wealth gap actually widened during this period:
| Year | White family median income | Black American family median income | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | $4,392 | $2,461 | $1,931 |
| 1960 | $5,835 | $3,233 | $2,602 |
The income gap between white and black American families actually increased by $671 during the prosperous 1950s (from $1,931 to $2,602). This meant that even as the overall economy grew, racial economic inequality was getting worse, not better. Black American families earned only about 56% of what white families earned in 1953, and this fell to 55% by 1960.
This growing income inequality had direct consequences for where families could afford to live. White families increasingly had the financial means to move to new suburban developments, whilst black American families - earning significantly less - were largely confined to inner-city rental accommodation.
Population growth and migration patterns
The 1950s witnessed dramatic demographic shifts that transformed American cities and created new patterns of racial segregation.
Overall population growth
America's population expanded at an unprecedented rate:
- 1940: 130 million
- Mid-1950s: 165 million
- This represented the largest population increase in American history up to that point.
Urban migration
People moved from rural areas and small towns into urban centres:
- Urban population rose from 96.5 million (1950) to 124.7 million (1960)
- Rural farm population declined from 23 million (1950) to 13.4 million (1960)
Many sought better opportunities, higher living standards, and access to consumer goods in cities.
Black American migration north
Black Americans continued to escape rural poverty and racial discrimination in the South, continuing the pattern established during the Great Migration of the 1920s and 1930s. During the 1950s, the 12 largest cities gained 1.8 million black American residents.
This continued migration north was driven by the hope of escaping Jim Crow segregation laws and finding better economic opportunities. However, as we'll see, these migrants often found themselves facing a different form of segregation in northern cities - one based on housing discrimination rather than explicit legal barriers.
Emergence of racially divided cities
By the 1960s, a clear pattern of racial segregation had emerged in American cities:
Inner cities became predominantly non-white:
- Watts district of Los Angeles
- West and north Philadelphia
- South Bronx
- Harlem (New York City)
Suburbs became predominantly white settlements on the edges of cities.
This represented a significant shift - whereas racial tension had previously been concentrated in the Old South, it now developed in northern and western cities as well.
Federal housing policy and discrimination
The federal government played a crucial role in creating and maintaining racial segregation in housing through its policies and agencies.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
The Federal Housing Administration actively promoted racial segregation through several mechanisms:
- Supported restrictive covenants that prevented Jewish and black Americans from purchasing homes in new suburban developments
- Officially aimed to ensure neighbourhoods had "racial cohesion"
- In reality, this meant systematically barring non-white residents from suburban areas
The FHA's influence was substantial - it financed 30 per cent of all new homes built in the USA during the 1950s.
Government-Sponsored Discrimination
The FHA didn't just allow racial discrimination - it actively encouraged it. The agency created maps of American cities that rated neighbourhoods based on their racial composition, a practice called "redlining." Areas with black residents were marked in red and deemed too risky for loans, while all-white areas received the highest ratings. This meant the federal government was using taxpayer money to enforce racial segregation in housing.
Consequences for black Americans
The FHA's discriminatory policies had severe consequences:
- Black Americans and other minorities were excluded from most suburban housing developments
- They were forced into privately owned rental accommodation in inner-city areas
- These areas became rundown and overcrowded, developing into racial ghettoes
Failure of public housing
The government failed to provide adequate public housing as an alternative:
- Between 1949-59, only 320,000 houses were funded under President Truman's Public Housing Act
- This was completely insufficient to meet the needs of inner-city residents
Where public housing was provided (known as "the projects" in many cities):
- Accommodation was often cramped and poor quality
- To save costs, housing was built in massive high-rise blocks
- This created densely populated areas with inadequate public amenities
The overall result was the development of two separate societies within northern and western cities: a predominantly non-white inner city and a predominantly white suburbia.
The development and significance of Levittowns
Levittowns represented a new model of suburban housing development that became synonymous with post-war American prosperity - and with racial exclusion.
What were Levittowns?
Levittowns were purpose-built new communities offering affordable private housing. Key features included:
- Large-scale developments of over 17,000 houses each
- Built in New York State and Pennsylvania
- Mass-produced, standardised housing designs that kept costs low
- Initially for white residents only - black Americans were explicitly excluded
The Levitt company's approach revolutionised home building by applying assembly-line production techniques to housing construction. Workers moved from house to house performing specialised tasks, dramatically reducing construction time and costs. A Levittown house could be built in just days rather than months, making home ownership affordable for many middle-class white families for the first time.
Factors enabling suburban growth
Several factors combined to make developments like Levittowns possible and affordable for white families:
Economic prosperity: Rising wages during the 1950s gave many white families the financial means to purchase homes.
Cheap home loans: Organisations offered favourable financing:
- Veterans Administration provided loans to former servicemen
- Federal Housing Administration offered mortgages with low interest rates and small down payments
Government support: The FHA's financing of 30 per cent of all new homes created a massive subsidy for suburban development.
Impact on home ownership
By 1960, home ownership had become the norm for the first time in American history:
- Three in every five families owned their own home
- This was a dramatic change from previous decades when most families rented
Between 1950 and 1960, 18 million people moved to the suburbs, fundamentally transforming American residential patterns.
The Scale of Suburban Migration:
To understand the magnitude of suburban growth, consider that 18 million people moving to suburbs in 10 years means:
This means that on average, nearly 5,000 people were moving to suburban areas every single day throughout the 1950s - equivalent to creating a small town's worth of new suburban residents daily.
The megalopolis
The scale of suburban growth was so extensive that new terms were needed to describe it. The term "megalopolis" was used to describe the continuous suburban expansion from:
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Through New York City
- Through Philadelphia
- Through Baltimore
- To Washington DC
This represented a vast, interconnected urban-suburban region.
White exodus from city centres
Whilst cities grew overall, their centres underwent significant decline as white residents departed for suburban life.
Pattern of white flight
During the 1950s:
- Many white residents left city centres for life in the suburbs
- Old city centre residential areas were left to non-white residents
- The rapid expansion of cities was essentially the growth of suburbia, not city centres
Creation of two separate societies
This process created stark racial divisions:
Inner cities:
- Predominantly non-white
- Deteriorating housing stock
- Limited public amenities
- High-density rental accommodation
- Often in high-rise "projects"
Suburbs:
- Predominantly white
- New, affordable housing
- Better public services
- Lower population density
- Owner-occupied homes
The Wealth-Building Gap
This division had profound long-term economic consequences. White families who bought suburban homes were building wealth through property ownership - their homes appreciated in value over time, creating assets they could pass to their children. Black American families, denied access to home ownership and forced to rent, were unable to build wealth in this way. This created a generational wealth gap that persists today.
By 1970, this division had become even more pronounced:
- 80 million Americans lived in suburbs
- Only 65 million lived in central cities (15 million fewer than in suburbs)
Significance for civil rights
The development of de facto segregation in northern and western cities had important implications for the civil rights movement.
Changed geography of racial conflict
- Previously, racial tension was concentrated in the Old South
- Now, interracial tensions developed in northern and western cities
- This meant the civil rights struggle was no longer just a "southern problem"
This geographic shift meant that civil rights activists had to develop new strategies. The tactics that worked against Jim Crow laws in the South - like challenging discriminatory laws in court - were less effective against de facto segregation, which wasn't written into law but was embedded in economic practices and social customs.
Limitations of legal victories
- Legal victories against segregation in the South (like school desegregation) didn't address northern housing segregation
- De facto segregation was harder to challenge legally than de jure segregation
- Restrictive covenants and discriminatory lending were often informal or hidden
Long-term consequences
The patterns of residential segregation established in the 1950s proved remarkably persistent:
- Created concentrated areas of poverty in inner cities
- Limited black Americans' access to good schools, jobs, and amenities
- Built wealth inequality (through denied home ownership opportunities)
- Set the stage for urban unrest in the 1960s
Key Points to Remember:
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De facto segregation in housing developed in the North and West after 1945, even as legal segregation was being challenged in the South - this was segregation in practice rather than by law.
-
Levittowns symbolised both post-war American prosperity and racial exclusion, offering affordable housing to white families whilst deliberately excluding black Americans through restrictive covenants.
-
Federal government policy, particularly through the FHA, actively promoted racial segregation by supporting restrictive covenants and providing cheap loans only for homes in white neighbourhoods, financing 30 per cent of all new homes in the 1950s.
-
Economic inequality between white and black Americans widened during the 1950s (from a $1,931 income gap in 1953 to $2,602 by 1960), making it financially impossible for most black families to access suburban housing even without explicit discrimination.
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The result was two separate societies: predominantly white suburbs with new housing and good amenities versus predominantly non-white inner cities with deteriorating rental accommodation, inadequate public housing, and poor services - a pattern that would persist for decades.