Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, tools of housing discrimination included:

• A. Only governmental restrictions
• B. Only private restrictions
• C. Both governmental and private restrictions
• D. None of the above

Answer: (C)

Discrimination in housing during that era came from two intertwined sources: private actions and government policies. Private restrictions showed up as restrictive covenants tucked into property deeds and neighborhood associations, promises that restricted who could buy or live in a home. Real estate agents and developers often steered buyers away from certain areas or refused to work with them, reinforcing segregation through private practice and market pressure. On the government side, local ordinances, zoning decisions, and enforcement practices shaped where people could live—sometimes explicitly segregating neighborhoods or allowing practices that produced segregation even if not every law singled out a group by name. Because both private agreements and public policies were used to create and maintain segregated housing, this combination was a common and effective toolkit for housing discrimination in that period.