Black Homeownership in America: A Historical Overview

Homeownership has long been a major part of the American Dream, but for too long it’s largely been denied to black Americans. From the dawn of slavery to the present day, a combination of financial exclusion, housing discrimination, and racial prejudice has kept many African Americans from achieving the same level of homeownership as their white counterparts.

The history of black homeownership in America begins with slavery. In fact, it was not until after the Civil War, when Reconstruction policies were put in place, that African Americans even had the possibility of owning property. Landownership for freed slaves was made possible through the Freedman’s Bureau and the Homestead Act of 1867, which provided land for freed slaves in former slave states and in the western territories. Unfortunately, due to the limited resources of former slaves, this opportunity was often short-lived and a rare privilege.

After Reconstruction and the dismantling of many of the civil rights advances made during that period, the US housing market was largely segregated along racial lines. African Americans were denied the same opportunities to buy homes as their white counterparts, due to federal policies like redlining and the refusal of mortgage lenders to approve loans for black applicants. These policies, which were further enforced through segregated real estate practices, kept African Americans out of white neighborhoods, trapping them in inadequate properties that often lacked proper heating and sanitation.

The modern era of black homeownership began in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the passing of the Fair Housing Act and the Community Reinvestment Act. These laws helped to increase access to credit and resolve the mortgage discrimination that had been in place for years. This progress, however, has been slow and in the modern day, the homeownership rate for African Americans is approximately 44%, compared to 73% for whites.

Though the history of black homeownership in America has been a challenging one, recent years have provided hope for future progress. As the government, housing activists, and financial institutions continue to focus on improving opportunities for people of color in homeownership, hopefully, more African Americans will have access to the same opportunities as other groups in attaining the American Dream of homeownership.