This Old Housing Crisis
But even more cunning, housing discrimination has taken on a new form in the 21st century. Redlining is not the worry; now the problem is African Americans are being disproportionately sold loans that are more costly and default-prone. This is even in situations where their credit scores are good and they qualify for a top-of-the-market loan.
During the recent housing boom, African Americans, across income lines, were much more likely than white Americans to wind up with a predatory loan product that endangered their financial future than any other racial group.
Thus, 40 years after the death of Dr. King and the passage of the housing law that his passing helped to make real, Lyndon Johnson's vision of an America with truly fair housing has not yet arrived. A new battle has been joined; many more of us than expected are part of that continuing struggle.
Brian Gilmore is a poet and lawyer who teaches housing law in the Howard University School of Law's Clinical Law Center.
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This Old Housing Crisis
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View All Comments »Peaches at 07/15/2008 2:20:31 PM
Comment:
Every home closing in New york City requires a lawyer paid for by the buyer that is suppose to explain the closing proceedure to the borrower/buyer. The amount of legal information in the closing statement is far beyond the reach of most college graduates never mind the average Joe. We pay the lawyer to explain to us what we are doing and what it means. If the people we pay to look out for our intrest are not doing their job How are we to protect our intrests.
shawnaja at 04/04/2008 3:45:06 PM
Comment:
Brian,
I really appreciated this article, and the historical perspective on the passage of the Fair Housing Act and its possible correlation with King's death. I would hope you elaborate in the future about the segregation and discriminatory loan practices that we are now seeing (two pretty big topics, for sure). As a recent first-time home buyer, I do feel that one needs to be able to trust financing professionals, and that it is imperative that they have a fiduciary duty to the buyer. From the current state of events, this needs to be legistlated. So, an underlying question of the article: will it take a catastrophic event to create impetus for change (negative)? Or perhaps a strong leader that inspires people, such as King or Obama (positive)? Thanks for the article, really enjoy the blog. Great idea to have a relationship with Slate.
lawchick at 04/04/2008 1:02:26 PM
Comment:
It is unfortunate that ljdunn558's view of life is so limited that he actually thought the people to whom the predatory loans were offered had a choice if they were to purchase the "American Dream", a home. I am a lawyer and I was initally offered a 10% loan by a white mortgage broker before I finally purchased at a rate of 6% 30-year fixed. The problem with race in America is that Blacks have a greater understanding of Whites and how they live in America but it is definitely a view gained through a one-way mirror. The majority of whites in America don't recognize the subtlties of racism because they cannot put themselves in the shoes of their African-American counterpart at any soci-economic level. That is why racism continues and is so pervasive in American.