Homeowner’s Business

In the late 1960’s it was common knowledge that the nation’s urban areas, mostly inhabited by African Americans, were plagued by poverty and unrest. The Lyndon B. Johnson administration felt the urban housing issue could be solved with a marriage between the private and public sectors. For decades the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) barred African Americans from homeownership by claiming they were too financially risky to receive the same services from the real estate and banking industries as Whites. The passing of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Act of 1968 eliminated this perceived risk by allowing low interest mortgage loans that were fully backed by the federal government. Finally, African Americans were given access to conventional real estate practices and mortgage financing. However, ingrained racisms within the government and private sector ensured African Americans were incorporated into the housing market on more expensive and unfair terms than White Americans. The author refers to this phenomenon as predatory inclusion.