Redlining

Hey there kiddo, do you know what redlining is? No? Well, let me explain it to you in a way you'll understand.

Imagine you have a big box of crayons, with all sorts of colors like red, blue, and green. Now, let's say you have to color a picture, but someone tells you that you're only allowed to use the red crayon. How do you feel? Frustrated, right? You might feel like you're not able to do a good job because you don't have all the colors you need.

Well, that's kind of what redlining is. Except, it's not about crayons. It's about where people are allowed to live or get loans to buy houses.

A long time ago, there were some bad people who made it so that certain neighborhoods were only for certain people. They looked at things like the color of their skin, where they came from, and how much money they had. If they didn't like those things, they drew a big red line around those neighborhoods and said, "No one who's not like us is allowed to live here or buy a house here."

Can you imagine how unfair that is? It's like saying you can only color with one crayon because of the way you look or where you come from.

This was a very bad thing to do because it made it hard for people who were different to find a good place to live or to get a loan to buy a house. It's like giving some people all the colors in the box and only giving other people one or two.

Now, we know that redlining is wrong and against the law. Everyone should be able to live wherever they want and find a good place to call home, no matter what color their skin is or where they come from.