It was 1945. World War II had ended, and people of all colors sought to build lives on Long Island. Passage of the GI Bill in 1944 made it possible for many soldiers to afford homes. For Black veterans, though, the bill was a mirage. The federal government and the banking industry denied them mortgages, drawing red lines around Black and other marginalized communities to designate them as “high risk” for default. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 made redlining illegal, but segregation remained.