SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) – Siouxland has a lot of Black history that has been tucked away or forgotten, including the mass redlining that took place nearly a century ago. What many forgot, is still relevant today. "Redlining is something that the federal government did, and it was a systemic thing all across this country to look at where banks should give loans. And so the red line and the red areas were parts of the community that should not be given loans. But those were predominantly where people of color, especially Black people lived," Karen Mackey, director of the Sioux City Human Rights Commission, said. Many adults back in the day understood what redlining was, but for kids, it was normal. "Growing up here, born and raised here, I just lived on the West Side, and I didn't know, that was just home," Jim Tillman, Sioux City resident and historian, said. "That wasn't any big deal. But yet, growing up, I was aware of certain areas I couldn't necessarily go and be safe." Redlining became legalized in 1934 by the Federal Home Owners Loan Corporation and was reinforced by the Federal Housing administration in 1938. But in Sioux City, officials say redlining began with a fire. "There were a couple of fires downtown that displaced the people, and then Sioux City designated a D7 area. This ties into the Housing Administration. Who was going to give loans? What areas are going to get loans to get housing? And the D7, the Soudan area, which essentially is the West Side area today, was designated as hazardous," Tillman said. According to Tillman, areas of Sioux City were given grades, similar to those given in school, with A1 being the highest, and going down from there. "We were 'undesirables,'" Tillman said. Around 70% of Sioux City was deemed undesirable, leaving just a small section left for people that fit the criteria banks would give loans to. Redlining is illegal today, but according to Mackey, the officials in charge would make commentary on certain areas and deem certain parts of the city undesirable. "For example, the part of town I live in now was redlined. It was farmland 90 years ago and so they're like, 'Yeah, they'll give a loan there, it's farmland.' And so those continue to be where there's poor white people and people of color who live in those areas." Sioux City's past continues to impact hundreds of thousands of people without many even realizing it. "People don't know about it at all. They don't know that it happened to here. They think that this is a big city ... this is a New York City thing," Mackey said. "No, this is Sioux City." "It's an issue, but Sioux City has improved as America has improved. But it's definitely still an issue," Tillman added.