Racial Segregation

Another aspect of American culture that was very apparent in Levittown was racism. Only white people were allowed to buy or rent a home in Levittown, disabling African Americans and other minorities to enjoy this new part of American culture. African Americans were denied this opportunity by both private businesses - like Levitt & Sons - and the government.

The American government played an active role in creating the post-WW II middle class. The most obvious example of this is the 1944 Serviceman's Readjustment Act, popularly known as the GI Bill, which enabled veterans to easily get an education, a job, and a house. The latter was also overseen by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). However, both the GI Bill and the FHA discriminated. According to scholar Karen Brodkin, African American veterans were systematically excluded, especially when it came to housing. The FHA openly insisted on racially homogeneous neighborhoods and discouraged builders to rent or sell to non-whites.

Bill Levitt was not unaffected by this. His official rental agreement forbade his houses to be used by ANY OTHER PERSON THAN MEMBERS OF THE CAUCASIAN RACE. To emphasize this, he used capital letters in the actual document. Levitt was criticized for this policy in the late 1950s and '60s but he claimed that the market forced him to act in this way. According to Peter Bacon Hales, it was commonly feared that black residents in a neighborhood would result in a devaluation of the surrounding houses which would be followed by a "white flight." Furthermore, Levitt claimed that the governmental policy encouraged him to continue his policy of segregation. Whether this is true or not is not of great importance, what matters is that American society clearly created circumstances for Levitt to exercise segregation.