This Moment Calls for Finally Making Homeownership Access Fair

The worsening housing crisis shows that we must develop comprehensive tools and programs to keep families housed and their assets preserved.

2 minute read

July 29, 2020, 11:00 AM PDT

By Shelterforce


A Black woman stands in front of a home holding an umbrella and smiling.

Center for Neighborhood Technology / Flickr

We must confront the connection between homeownership and inequality, and the centuries of systemic racism that have enabled it. The pandemic has put a spotlight on the connection between health and stable housing. The disparate impact of COVID-19 on Black and Latino families, who are more vulnerable to job and income disruptions, will result in waves of evictions and foreclosures. (This report paints a grim picture—it estimates that up to 22 million renters and 15 million homeowners are at risk.) The protests against police violence and discriminatory enforcement have mainstreamed an understanding that unequal treatment under the law has persisted. Much of that unequal treatment has been carried out through our housing policy and practice. Well-known is redlining, the practice in which, starting in the 1930s, the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) graded communities so that some were eligible for lower-cost, federally insured mortgages. Borrowers in other communities were excluded. The HOLC described entire communities in my hometown of Stamford, Connecticut, as “now given over to the city’s undesirable element.” In case there was any confusion, the official form included the percentage of residents who were “foreign-born” or “Negro,” and whether these percentages amounted to an “infiltration.” These practices poisoned the housing market, and their impacts remain with us today, in our community planning and in our political discourse.

Traditional redlining is just the best known of our intentional policies that discriminated against families of color; steeringpredatory inclusionexclusionary zoning, and appraisal and insurance redlining, among others, have also played a part. Those policies (and their legacies) aggravated and enforced segregation, tamped down home appreciation, and limited intergenerational transfers of wealth between Black families. Because of these policies, the homeownership gap between Black and white households remains where it was when Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act in 1968. Today, 73 percent of white families are homeowners; just 44 percent of Black families own their homes.

Most Americans would reject ... 

Wednesday, July 15, 2020 in Shelterforce Magazine

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Blue and silver Amtrak train at small station.

Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train

The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.

July 3 - New Orleans City Business

Large spinning swing ride at Chicago's Navy Pier.

The Subversive Car-Free Guide to Trump's Great American Road Trip

Car-free ways to access Chicagoland’s best tourist attractions.

July 3 - Streetsblog Chicago

Aerial view of downtown San Antonio, Texas at night with rotating Tower of the Americas in foreground.

San Antonio and Austin are Fusing Into one Massive Megaregion

The region spanning the two central Texas cities is growing fast, posing challenges for local infrastructure and water supplies.

July 3 - Governing