In Altadena, Black Homeownership Defied Segregation and Paved the Way for Future Generations

It was a symbol of freedom.

In the aftermath of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, headlines about celebrities losing their mansions dominated the news. But there's a much bigger story that's not getting enough attention: among the thousands of homes burned down and dozens of lives lost were those of a historic multicultural community. Nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Altadena was one of the first places in the United States that let black families own homes.

Here's why this matters: back in the 1930s, the government started a practice called redlining. They took maps and drew red lines around Black neighborhoods, marking them as "too risky" for home loans. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) followed suit, refusing mortgages in Black neighborhoods regardless of residents' financial stability. They even required builders to promise not to sell new homes to Black families.