ABSTRACT
This chapter elaborates on the prevalence of the loss of home ownership in African American communities, its impact on the family, and programs to address the foreclosure crisis. Sam Fulwood, in his 2016 report titled ‘The United States’ history of segregated housing continues to limit affordable housing,’ examines the intersection of racial discrimination and disparities in housing in America. Research shows that discriminatory lending practices significantly impact African Americans seeking homeownership, who often having to pay higher interest rates than white Americans with the same or similar incomes. Racial housing segregation is deeply rooted in the fabric of American society and can be traced back to housing opportunities for Blacks who were brought to the New World as plantation labor by way of the transatlantic slave trade. Financial lending institutions not only targeted low-income minority homeowners, but also middle-class African American and Latino families residing in neighborhoods with large numbers of minority families.
