Children from low-income families who grew up in West Orange did better than the state average as adults. Hold parental income fixed and look by race and ethnicity, and a 15-point gap appears, one that opens in their late 20s and splits along marriage and men’s earnings.

A 1939 mortgage grade of C, not D, still shapes who lives well in West Orange, NJ. Why yellow-lined neighborhoods, overlooked in most redlining stories, may carry the most lasting damage of all.