WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Decades of housing discrimination have helped create an enormous wealth gap 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 between white and black families. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - The enduring legacy of red-lining, the legal government sponsored effort to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 deny mortgages and home ownership opportunities to African-Americans and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 other minorities continues to undermine their quality of life. This violation of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 basic civil rights continues to negatively impact education attainment, health 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 outcomes, wealth accumulation, self-esteem, mortality rates, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 civic engagement. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - Home ownership has proved to both the doorway and gatekeeper to success and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 well-being in America. It is at the core of todays racial wealth gap. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - There's a very powerful myth in this country, and that is that residential 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 segregation in this country is something we call de-facto segregation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Something to happen by accident. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Every textbook that's used in American high schools and middle schools today 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 lies about this history. It talks about how 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 northern cities were de facto segregated, without government involvement. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They talk about how the Federal Housing Administration, did a wonderful job of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 creating single family homes in the suburbs for working class families 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 without mentioning that the working class families they had created these 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 homes for, could only be white. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - This began a history of excluding people of color from government housing programs. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Intended to lower the cost of mortgages and increase home ownership. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Segregated neighborhoods by race using a code system. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Outlined minority neighborhoods using the color red. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Intended to expand the secondary mortgage market by securitizing 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 mortgage loans. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Community boards often denied minority veterans mortgages. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Many minority vets could not be buried in the same cemetery as 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 whites. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It wasn't until 1970 that lending to communities of color began to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 increase. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - The way this manifested itself is through the drawing of maps. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Different neighborhoods were underwritten as being riskier or safer and the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 principle component that determined riskiness or safety from a lending 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 standpoint was ethnic and racial composition. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It was at that point that the real estate developers began to drop strings 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 around areas. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The local banker could choose who would get mortgages, where. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So that we could not have gotten a loan out in the suburbs because 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 those were whites only. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The concept of a middle class black only exists in the mind of a middle 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 class black. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Everywhere else in the suburbs you are that nigger family on the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 corner of Warren road and Boulevard Way. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Well the truth is that we've had in this country generations of affirmative action 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for whites. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And the sad truth of it is that whites don't know that that's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 happened or they refuse to accept it or don't understand 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the history. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And what that leads to is this false kind-of narrative that "I did it myself". 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You know this, racial (inaudible), individual responsibility narrative. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - They were many federal, state, and local policies explicitly racial 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 designed to create segregation in every Metropolitan area in the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 country. And policies that were so powerful that they still determine 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the racial boundaries of Metropolitan areas today. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The Federal Housing Administration began a program to suburbanize the entire white 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 working class population into single family homes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - This is Levittown, Pennsylvania. A new suburban community of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 sixty thousand people with its giant shopping center, winding 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 lanes named for flowers and trees. It is (inaudible) typical of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 communities all over America. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Where families are pursuing the American dream to give their children a better 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 chance in life. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Nearly all are young people. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A large proportion are veterans. For many it is the first house of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 their own and it represents a major financial investment. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - In August 1957, Levittown, Pennsylvania attracted 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 international attention as William Myers Jr. and his family moved into the three 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 bedroom house. They are very close to the Levittown norm. Except in one 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 respect. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 William Myers Jr. and his family are negroes in an all-white community. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If more colored are allowed to move in, Levittown is going to go downhill. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - The only way that those developers could get the capital to do that was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 by going to the Federal Housing Administration. In order to get 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that approval, they had to commit never to sell a home to an African-American. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Access to leverage allowed middle-class whites to build wealth. The white 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 families who bought those homes were able to use their wealth to send children to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 college. And they use that to bequeath wealth to their children, who can use 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it as down payments for their own homes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Restrictive covenants ensured that minorities could not buy into white 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 neighborhoods. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Properties shall continue to be occupied by the same social 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and racial classes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - When Karen and I purchased this home that was built in 1948 we found some documents 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a closet. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Neither the whole or any part of said tract shall be sold, rented, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or leased to any persons or persons not of white or caucasian race. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - Created greatest growth of the middle class in the history of the world. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In 1940, 42 percent of white families owned their own home. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In 2000, 71 percent of white families owned their own home. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - So consequently those 71 percent, 72 percent of white home owners 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who own their own home should be thankful to the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 federal government for providing them this opportunity. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What did not happen or what happened at the same time 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was that we people of color where discriminated against and were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 prevented from taking advantage of those opportunities. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - The recent housing and foreclosure crisis were a continuation of a form 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of red-lining. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Financial institutions practiced unrealistic credit scoring and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 predatory lending. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Subprime mortgages grew nearly 250 percent. In 1998, subprime mortgages 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 made up 9.8 percent of the mortgage market. By 2006, they made up 23.5 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 percent of the market. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - And the gap between white home ownership rates and black home ownership rates is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 30 percentage points larger than it was back in 1968. In 1968 the typical black 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 family had one-sixth as much wealth as the typical white family. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Now it is one-tenth. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We have gone backwards since the civil rights era. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - Latinos lost close to a 170 billion dollars worth of equity that they 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 had accumulated in the home that they purchased many 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 many years before then. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - When they come to access products the choices that they are given are 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 limited. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So you're given, instead of a conventional loan, you're given 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a special loan that have higher interest rates or higher fees 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that again set you up for foreclosure or failure as well. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - The scandal of your tenure is your unwillingness to do your job and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 enforce the laws that reduce housing discrimination. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - The housing crisis affected all communities but disproportionally 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 devastated minority families. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Black and hispanic families lost nearly 20 years of wealth between 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 2007 and 2013. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Minority home ownership is the lowest it's been since 1996. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - Red-lining discrimination in the Asian-American communities, live 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and kicking. And in California, you'll see that Asians have the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 second highest probability of going to foreclosure. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Very comparable to Latinos. Latinos were 1.4, for Asians it 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was 1.3. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And so whether it is in home ownership, rental, small business, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 foreclosure, across the board there is red-lining. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - Between 1934 and 1962, 120 billion in FHA and VA loans were issued. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Over that period of time, 98 percent of the loans 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 went to white families and less than two 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 percent went to African-Americans and other minorities. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Using the average Home Price Index between 1934 through 2018, those 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 FHA, VA loans equates to at least three trillion dollars in current 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 real estate value. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Assuming that as loans were paid off and excess funds were invested in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 stocks and other investments conservatively, another two 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 trillion were created. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This "White Subsidy" is the major contributor to the current racial 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 wealth gap. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - So many way Americans experience this sense of self esteem, a sense of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know superiority, if you will. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This sense of mastery, that they have created their own destiny 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in their lives. And they have no acknowledgment of this invisible 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 hand that supported them throughout their lives and not just them, but there's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a legacy of that invisible hand across generations that has translated itself 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 from the original affirmative action to trillions of dollars of head start 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ahead of other communities, like African-Americans, Latinos, Native 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Americans, others who don't have the same benefit. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Children of homeowners are more likely to graduate from high school, have less 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 childhood behavioral problems and achieve higher college 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 graduation rates. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - In segregated housing, and in neighborhoods that everybody is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 segregated that tend to be low income neighborhoods. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There is the greater likelihood that the youngsters will be involved in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 gangs, or will be recruited to be in gangs. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - I noticed an absence of hope, an absence of light. These kids 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 were barraged with a message every single day of their lives, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that they weren't valued, that they didn't matter. And they internalized 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that. And that caused frustration and anger, and eventually despair 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and a loss of hope. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There is now a very good science that shows the sense of not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 belonging, the sense of lacking self-esteem raises cortisol levels 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in your blood. And cortisol is good for you when you're in an extremely 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 stressful situation, but when you're constantly bathed in cortisol, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because you're constantly feeling these stressors of being marginalized and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 being told that you're less worthy, less valuable and being in constant 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 state of really fear and anxiety, it changes your physiology 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 completely. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It makes you more prone to cardiovascular disease, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it makes you more prone to diabetes, it makes 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 changes in your brain, which actually makes it 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 more difficult to engage in what we call executive 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 function. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This kind of chronic stress which is driven by the policies that we've 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 created is lethal as any knife or any gun. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 - Suppose discrimination did end today? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 How many generations would it take to get to rough equality and wealth 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 across races. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 France was seven generations, more than 200 years.