Addressing Systemic Racism and Bias in the Housing Market

Narrowing the Racial Homeownership Gap, Part One

This is the first part of a two-part event series focused on narrowing the racial homeownership gap. Part Two: Practices, Policies and Partnerships to Increase Black Homeownership is on Wednesday, November 10, 2021.

Homeownership is viewed as the gateway to the American Dream and the primary mechanism for asset building in the US. However, this has not been the case for many Black Americans because of the country’s long legacy of exclusionary housing policies. Today, the gap in the homeownership rate between Black and white Americans is wider than it was before the civil rights movement. Households of color hold just one-eighth of the wealth of white households. Seventy-six percent of white households owned their homes at the end of the second quarter of 2020, compared with just 47% of Black households.

Addressing Systemic Racism and Bias in the Housing Market will focus on the lasting impact of systemic racism, along with an analysis of how redlining and other discriminatory practices have widened the homeownership gap between Black and white people. It will suggest potential ways to make home financing more equitable and accessible to people of color and targeted solutions to help Black homeowners prosper in the long term. Please register by Monday, November 8, 2021. Full agenda.

Speakers

Junia Howell, faculty member, University of Illinois – Chicago 

José Loya, assistant professor in urban planning, UCLA

Aracely Panameño, director of Latino Affairs, Center for Responsible Lending

Dr. Andre Perry, senior fellow, Brookings

Lisa Rice, president and CEO, National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA)

William “Bill” M. Rodgers III, vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equity, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Denise Scott, executive vice president for programs, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)

Faith Weekly, community development advisor – neighborhoods and housing, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Read speaker biographies.

Presented by