![]() In the scene I mentioned above, we see maps of Los Angeles with the neighborhoods assigned a color based on “residential security.” Areas in red are “hazardous” - and red areas, not at all coincidentally, also represent Black neighborhoods. Though they tried to use what they presumably thought was well-meaning language - “incompatible racial groups should not be permitted to live in the same communities” - it’s not difficult at all to see what they were doing.Īlso Read: Incel Captain America Is So Perfect The Federal Housing Administration in the first half of the 20th Century enacted overtly racist policies with the specific goal of segregating neighborhoods and keep people of color out of white neighborhoods. The country was still a long way away from the Fair Housing Act of 1968 - though that hardly put an end to racist housing discrimination. Interest rates that are much, much higher than what the white people have to pay. ![]() In this scene, a bunch of bankers discuss the way they use dramatically unfair policies to create neighborhoods full of Black people who are paying outrageous interest rates on their homes. The beginning of the fifth episode, dubbed “COVENANT I,” gives you a partial overview of the racist mid-20th Century housing situation. But while things may have been overall better in general in California, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t still plenty of racism to go around out there. It’s got a focus on housing in particular, but it’s certainly not limited to that topic.Īlso Read: 'For All Mankind': Margot Really Needs to Stop Talking to Aleida Like ThatĪs we see at the very beginning of the first episode, the Emorys’ move across the country was part of a major trend in the mid-20th Century, when millions of Black families moved out of the South and into other parts of the country. “Them” puts a horror lens on stuff like racist covenants, predatory lending, redlining - it is, in a lot of ways, a big picture examination of the shape of institutional racism in America in the 20th Century. But it is firmly rooted in actual history - it’s based on true concepts, more or less. The Emorys that we see on “Them” are not real people, and this is not a true story, or based on one. And so they do a lot of bad stuff to the Emorys, who also have some other literal demons to deal with since this is a horror show. Unfortunately, troubles arises when they move into what was otherwise an all-white neighborhood in East Compton - and the white folks who live there are extremely unhappy about having Black neighbors. The Emorys have family out there, and they’re hoping things will be better for them out there in Southern California. “Them,” the new horror series on Amazon Prime Video from creator Little Marvin, tells the story of a Black family from North Carolina who moves to Los Angeles in 1953 after they suffer an unimaginable tragedy. ![]() (Below you’ll find some spoilers for Amazon’s horror series “Them”) ![]()
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