1933 – Homer Hoyt Develops Racial Hierarchy for Real Estate Professionals

Hoyt, the first Principal Housing Economist for the Federal Housing Administration, perfected a system of ranking races and nationalities in order to illustrate their beneficial effect or negative impact on land values with groups more favorable listed at the top and groups less favorable being listed at the bottom. Hoyt’s ranking is below:

1. English, Germans, Scotch, Irish, Scandinavians
2. North Italians
3. Bohemians or Czechoslovakians
4. Poles
5. Lithuanians
6. Greeks
7. Russian Jews of the lower class
8. South Italians
9. Negroes
10. Mexicans

***Source: The Fight for Fair Housing: Causes, Consequences and Future Implications of the Federal Fair Housing Act, Edited by Gregory D. Squires