When you look at socioeconomic maps of the U.S., it’s clear that moderate to high levels of Black/white racial segregation are the norm for major U.S. metropolitan regions. This is not by accident. Housing discrimination clearly leads to the poverty of Black inhabitants in segregated neighborhoods in the following ways: 
Low Housing Values Blacks’ confinement to segregated neighborhoods systematically reduces their access to investment opportunities. The middle class invests the largest share of its wealth in housing equity, which amounts to 43 percent of white assets and 63 percent of Black assets. Confined to less desirable neighborhoods, Blacks receive a much lower return on their investment than whites do. Because credit worthiness depends on wealth, Blacks’ lower home values mean they are less able to obtain credit on favorable terms than otherwise equally qualified whites: the current generation of Blacks has suffered a cumulative loss of $24 billion due to denial of mortgages and higher mortgage interest rates, researchers have found.
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