Systemic Racism and Housing

From the very beginning, people of color are systemically placed at a disadvantage. This video depicts what differences occur in the lives of POC vs. White people.

2350C657-FDD7-45E5-9A03-33089F9DB403.mov

source: Youtube

Systemic racism and oppression affects the general livelihood and wellbeing of POC. One of the most detrimental areas in which systemic racism can be witnessed is in the housing market.

Image is of a line graph that shows the rates at which people of color have experienced lower homeownership rates up to 2017. The 2017 statistics show that white Americans had a 70% homeowner ship rate versus Black Americans having a less than 40% homeownership rate.

Federal home loan programs allowed households to build and transfer assets across generations, contributing to the glaring racial disparities in homeowner ship and wealth

Image is of multiple line graphs that show Black households are less likely to own their own homes than white households, regardless of important demographic factors such as education, income, metropolitan status, marital status and age.

Racial discrimination in housing:

41% of Black households own their own home compared to 73% of white households
Typical white households have 10x more wealth than than the typical Black household
8 out 10 Black homes in Chicago were purchased on contract
45% of African Americans report discrimination when trying to rent or buy (compared to 5% of white Americans who reported discrimination)
Homes in Black neighborhoods are found to be undervalued by an average of $48,000 due to racial bias

source: Center for American Progress (CAP)

What is contract housing?

Contract selling-Chicago.mov

source: Bill Moyers on Vimeo

What is redlining?

In the United States, redlining is a discriminatory practice in which certain services are held from individuals who may live in areas that are deemed "hazardous". These areas may include low-income neighborhoods, or areas in which high numbers of racial and ethnic minority individuals reside (Wikipedia)

These maps are of Kansas City's redlining divide, in which Troost ave is the key divider.

Image is of the Kansas City, MO redlining map in which Troost ave is the divider street between high and low income families. Map is colored in green (best), blue (still desirable), yellow (definitely declining) and red (hazardous)

Areas by grade

-5% (green) - 'Best'-9% (blue) - 'Still Desirable'-33% (yellow) -'Definitely Declining'-52% (red) -Hazardous

Image is of Kansas City, MO redlining map in which Troost ave. is the divider street between high and low income families. This map shows the concentration areas of Black and White households. Black house holds are more concentrated on the lower income/hazardous areas and white households are more concentrated on the higher/best areas.

Neighborhood differences

-The red line down the center of this map is Troost Ave.-The shades of blue denote areas in which white individuals predominately reside-The shades of green denote areas in which Black individuals perdominately reside

Price per acre

Zone 'A' (green) has a financial productivity of $1.9million/acre. Zone 'D' (red) has a financial productivity of under $175,000/acre.
This results in lessened capital and inflicts real financial harm within these marginalized communities.

source: resilience

Reflection Questions:

Who do these types of policies benefit?
In what ways, can these types of policies impact the upward mobility of people with marginalized identities?

Additional Resources:

The History of Racism in Johnson County, KS

https://shawneemissionpost.com/2020/08/18/johnson-countys-reckoning-with-race-part-1-a-history-of-exclusion-99113/

Read the author’s book “So you want to talk about race” by Ijeoma Oluo
What is Structural Racism explanatory video: https://youtu.be/ZllrF9EB-lY

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