The American Dream Deferred: Redlining and Fair Housing

Civil rights activist Josie R. Johnson has dedicated her life to championing fair housing and anti-discrimination legislation. In 1962, lobbying on behalf of the League of Women Voters, Johnson played a pivotal role in passing the first fair housing law in the United States. Striking down the practice of “redlining” in Minnesota, the state’s black community became empowered to own and rent homes outside of existing geographical boundaries.