Date of Defense
4-18-2025
Date of Graduation
4-2025
Department
History
First Advisor
Evan Kutzler
Second Advisor
Lynn Houghton
Abstract
This thesis investigates the historical and contemporary legacy of racially discriminatory housing policies in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Using primary documents, census data, and secondary literature, it examines how government-sanctioned practices like redlining, racially restrictive covenants, urban renewal projects, and exclusionary zoning contributed to the segregation of Kalamazoo’s Black residents. Contrary to the narrative that residential segregation in northern cities was merely “de facto”, the thesis emphasizes the deliberate nature of these policies, carried out by federal, state, and local institutions in collaboration with real estate and banking industries.
The research focuses on the lasting economic impacts of redlining, especially in neighborhoods like the Northside, which experienced decades of disinvestment following its classification as “high risk” by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation in 1937. These areas were systematically denied access to housing credit, leading to declining property values, deteriorating infrastructure, and racial stigmatization. Racially restrictive covenants further entrenched segregation by prohibiting property sales to nonwhite residents and were actively enforced through legal, social, and financial means even after being ruled unenforceable in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948).
The paper also addresses urban renewal initiatives that displaced Black families under the guise of modernization, as well as zoning ordinances that restricted affordable housing development in predominantly white neighborhoods. These practices maintained racial boundaries and limited Black homeownership and mobility, worsening wealth disparities that continue into the present. Despite some progress, significant racial disparities remain in housing access, affordability, and wealth accumulation in Kalamazoo.
Recommended Citation
Walsh, Jacob, "How Discriminatory Housing Policies Segregated Kalamazoo" (2025). Honors Theses. 3916.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/3916
Access Setting
Honors Thesis-Open Access
Defense Presentation
thesis presentation notes.pdf (94 kB)
Presentation Notes