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Homeownership has long been equated with the American Dream. From ensuring voting rights, to endowing a sense of pride, to building generational wealth: owning property is key. Government policies involving homeownership have shaped our nation, but the tools used to encourage building of new homes and access to property have also been a force for racial segregation. This exhibit traces the role of government in establishing patterns of neighborhood segregation and shares what local government is doing to change this – and what you can do, too.

Image, above: San Francisco Residential Security Map, 1937.