Many immigrants eventually left their overcrowded ghettos and settled in suburbs where, through violence, zoning restrictions, and racial covenants, blacks were barred. This divergent path is illustrated by the fates of the home loans and banks established by these various immigrant groups. One instructive example is the Bank of Italy, which formed in San Francisco to serve Italian immigrants who could not get loans from the mainstream banks. Eventually, the Bank of Italy grew and merged into the mainstream U.S. banking system—just as Italian immigrants assimilated into American society. What
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