History Does Not Repeat Itself, But it Often Rhymes in Relation to Social Policy

Mark Twain once said that “history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
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History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
Mark Twain once said that “history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” This statement is true and consistent with how specific events and social phenomena in the present rhymes with particular events in the past. This essay uses an article written by Cavanaugh, Lipkin, and Mento titled, ’Redlining’s Marks On Sand Diego Persists 50 years after housing Protection’. The essay illustrates how the past can teach us about the present.
Mortgage defaulting remains one of the greatest challenges facing the U.S Housing financing industry. In particular, San Diego was rated as the 6th highest state in mortgage defaulting. While the San Diego housing policy experts celebrate the 50th Anniversary since the enactment of the Fair Housing Act, the Redlining Marks on San Diego persist. Based on the 1936 map of San Diego, the regions marked as red still have the highest risk of mortgage default today. According to Cavanaugh, Lipkin and Mento (2018), the mortgage default determinants were largely influenced by racial demographics, hence the term 'redlining'. But this phenomenon begs the question: How could the mortgage default pattern established 50 years ago persist today, notwithstanding the Housing protection? Rothstein asserts that the redlining phenomenon was highly influenced by discriminative policies such as creating the Federal Housing Administration that secured loans for the whites in the San Diego suburbs (Cavanaugh, 2021).
The mortgage default pattern is not perpetuated by racial segregation, prejudice or unfair lending practices (Cavanaugh, 2021). But rather, a deep-seated desire for racial homogeneity. San Diego's map of 1936 marked the southeastern parts of San Diego in red, while La Jolla and Coronado were marked blue. The mortgage default trend persists even after the passing of housing protection legislations. While the 1936 redlining of San Diego by the Home Owners Loan Corporation wa...