Overview
Getting a house for the first time was always special for the black homeowners. Dealing with the housing discrimination was never an easy task. As you know, housing discrimination was legal back in the past. One could look back in the history notes and find out that the system was unfair for the blacks. You would find that there was a time when the landlords could refuse rent to other colored people especially the African Americans. So, it is not a surprise that the first time black homeowners did find it special to be one.
Past
When we look at the situation before, the real estate agents even had the right to deny the blacks or the people of other colors to see the houses or even refuse to sell houses to the blacks. These unfair means were completely legal until 1968. The system was so unfair that banks had the right to deny mortgage loans to the applicant based on his race or his racial mix. It was the federal Fair Housing Act that declared these practices as illegal and put an end to the discrimination which was legal before.
The present scenario
Owning a home can stabilize your family’s financial position. But the blacks are still finding it tough to stabilize their financial position. Many reforms over the years didn’t have any impact on the homeownership issue. The 64% house ownership rate among the American whites reveals that even after years after the legal unfair means where stopped, the blacks still find it difficult to get a homeownership. Even the stats of the cities with majority black population hasn’t succeeded in reaching an even house ownership between the whites and blacks.
In fact, the cities in the northeast and the southwest parts have shown some positive results when the stats had been observed. But on the whole, only around 30 percent of the black households who are in their late thirties have seemed to own homes as of the year 2016. There has been a drastic 12-13 percent decrease in the count than it was in the year 2000.
The Downfall
The black homeownership has hit the lowermost level in the last two decades. If you check the stats from the year 2001, the black homeownership rates which were around 45% have fallen by five percent in the year 2016. Well, for the white families the homeownership rates as always have been at the high. You could also find a sharp decline in the homeownership rates among the black couples when compared to that of the single homeowners. If the last line ever gave you a thought that the black single homeowners were in a good position, know that the single black men were the ones who fell one step more behind than the black couples.
The bust that we saw over the years affected the blacks more severely than the white homeowners. The housing boom during the later years did no good to the blacks. They still lost their money while the whites were profited.
Restoring Black Homeownership
The changes that took place didn’t happen due to a single cause. The downfall we saw above and the present scenario are all that happened due to the various challenges faced in the economic as well as the social level that had constantly undermined the wealth that belonged to the black community.
Restoring the black ownership can be initiated with a few simple steps aimed at making it an easy process for the renters to become owners, by helping the blacks who are homeowners already to sustain themselves. It would be by protecting the black neighborhood by reinvesting in them. The buyers should be given awareness about the movement of prices in small neighborhoods. The first time black homeowners would always be vulnerable to property loss or loss of their wealth. The actions should be systematic and address all housing values. We have to learn from place-based initiatives and take comprehensive approaches in order to improve the conditions in the black neighborhoods, to protect them and target policy action.