As a real estate agent for more than 30 years, I have witnessed the lingering impact of government-sanctioned racist home lending practices. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2019 the homeownership rate was 42.1% for Black households and 73.4%for white households. To address this grave disparity, we must examine local, state, and federal policies that have contributed to structural racism in homeownership. Some laws, such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, provided a modest buffer from discrimination, but failed to reverse state laws already on the books that denied African Americans the opportunity to build wealth through home equity, unlike white Americans.
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