UNO host past, present, & future of redlining exhibit

OMAHA, Neb. (FOX 42 KPTM) — An exhibit that opened last November is catching the attention of the community.

It was created to open the eyes of those in the metro about the impact of redlining past, present, and future.

The guided tour at the University of Nebraska Omaha addresses redlining, how it came about in the 1930's and how all of those redline maps were drawn for black and brown communities across the nation.

The tour defines and explains what redlining is. Where it came from, what it meant for the people it affected, and what its goal was.

"A public policy that had the strength of the federal state and local government which was a racialized policy that designated certain areas and cities across the United States as a poverty block, it was a cluster of poverty and it designated individuals to be living in working in and really existing in those areas without the necessary services that were available throughout other areas within those cities, said Terri Crawford UNO, Community Fellow Service Learning Academy.

Those lacking services in redlined areas included financial and mortgages services, health and educational institutions; those are just a few.

Crawford said for Omaha that meant the north and northeast area.

She also said redlining in those areas eventually led to segregated housing.

With nearly a hundred years since the start of redlining it’s still an issue, even indirectly.

"We are still continuing to feel the impact and the effects of redlining and policy and all though it is illegal to engage in the behaviors and the policy is no longer legal in the United States however, there are other policies that replace redlining that continue to have the same despaired impact in those systemic redlined areas where minorities are clustered, said Crawford.

There is a lot to learn about redlining, the correlation between racism and what goes on today.

UNO is just the place to get the knowledge, the how to and the what to do to make sure that history is not repeated.

The tour is 50 minutes, free and open to anyone. Go here to schedule a guided tour or unguided. The exhibit will be at UNO until November 2024.