IT WAS A TIME WHEN
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF G.I.s CAME HOME,
READY TO START FAMILIES,
BUT HAD NO PLACE TO LIVE.
Oliver: IN THE 1930s,
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CREATED
THE FEDERAL HOUSING
ADMINISTRATION,
WHOSE JOB IT WAS
TO PROVIDE LOANS,
OR THE BACKING FOR LOANS,
TO AVERAGE AMERICANS,
SO THEY COULD PURCHASE A HOME.
FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND BANKS
SANK MILLIONS INTO
THE HOME CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY.
THEIR MESSAGE TO VETERANS --
YOU CAN AFFORD A NEW HOME,
BUY A NEW HOME NOW.
TAX DOLLARS HELPED MAKE
THE SINGLE FAMILY HOME
A MASS-PRODUCED CONSUMER ITEM.
THE AMERICAN DREAM
HAD A NEW NAME --
SUBURBIA.
Man: WE CAME TO
LEVITTOWN AND WE
FOUND A MODEL HOUSE
AND WE WALKED IN
AND WE LOOKED AROUND.
AND, OF COURSE,
IN THE EYES OF A YOUNG MAN
WHO WAS RAISED IN THE GHETTO,
SO TO SPEAK,
IT WAS AN
INTERESTING EXPERIENCE,
AN INTERESTING LIFESTYLE,
SEEING ALL THE NEW
MODERN CONVENIENCES.
VERY FASCINATING.
Narrator:
EUGENE BURNETT CAME HOME
WITH ALMOST A MILLION
OTHER BLACK G.I.s.
THEY HAD FOUGHT FOR THE COUNTRY
IN SEGREGATED RANKS.
THEY RETURNED
HOPING FOR EQUALITY
AND THE AMERICAN DREAM.
FOR MANY,
THAT DREAM WAS A NEW HOME
FOR LITTLE MONEY DOWN,
AND SOME OF THE EASIEST
CREDIT TERMS IN HISTORY.
Eugene:
I WENT UP TO THE SALESMAN.
WE'RE INTERESTED
IN YOUR HOME,
WE'RE INTERESTED IN
BUYING ONE
AND WHAT
IS THE PROCEDURE?
IS THERE AN APPLICATION
TO BE FILLED OUT?
SO HE LOOKED AT ME,
LOOKED AROUND,
AND HE SAID TO ME, HE SAYS,
LISTEN, IT'S NOT ME,
BUT THE OWNERS OF THIS
DEVELOPMENT HAVE NOT,
AS YET, DECIDED
TO SELL THESE HOMES
TO NEGROES.
Narrator:
THE FHA UNDERWRITERS WARNED
THAT THE PRESENCE OF EVEN ONE
OR TWO NON-WHITE FAMILIES
COULD UNDERMINE
REAL ESTATE VALUES
IN THE NEW SUBURBS.
THESE GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES
WERE WIDELY ADOPTED
BY PRIVATE INDUSTRY.
RACE HAD LONG PLAYED A ROLE
IN LOCAL REAL ESTATE PRACTICES.
STARTING IN THE 1930s,
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
INSTITUTIONALIZED
A NATIONAL APPRAISAL SYSTEM
WHERE RACE WAS AS MUCH A FACTOR
IN REAL ESTATE ASSESSMENT
AS THE CONDITION
OF THE PROPERTY.
USING THIS SCHEME,
FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS EVALUATED
239 CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY
FOR FINANCIAL RISK.
Oliver: SO THAT THOSE
COMMUNITIES THAT WERE ALL-WHITE,
SUBURBAN, AND FAR AWAY
FROM MINORITY AREAS,
THEY RECEIVED
THE HIGHEST RATING,
AND THAT WAS THE COLOR GREEN.
THOSE COMMUNITIES
THAT WERE ALL MINORITY
OR IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING,
THEY GOT THE LOWEST RATING...
AND THE COLOR RED,
THEY WERE RED-LINED.
AS A CONSEQUENCE,
MOST OF THE MORTGAGES
WENT TO SUBURBANIZING AMERICA,
AND IT SUBURBANIZED IT RACIALLY.
Narrator:
AS HOMES IN WHITE COMMUNITIES
APPRECIATED IN VALUE,
THE NET WORTH
OF THESE WHITE FAMILIES GREW.
FOR MOST NON-WHITE FAMILIES
WHO STAYED
IN URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS,
THE HOUSING MARKET OPEN TO THEM
IN THE '50s AND '60s
WAS LARGELY A RENTAL MARKET.
YOU DON'T GAIN EQUITY
BY PAYING RENT.
Conley: WHERE ONE'S FAMILY
LIVES IN AMERICA
IS NOT JUST A MATTER
OF TASTE AND PREFERENCE.
YOU HAVE THE ISSUE
OF HOUSING AND WEALTH.
THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS
HOLD MOST OF THEIR WEALTH
IN THE FORM OF HOME EQUITY.
SO, THAT'S THEIR NEST EGG,
THAT'S HOW THEY CAN FINANCE
THE EDUCATION
OF THEIR OFFSPRING.
THAT'S HOW THEY CAN
SORT OF SAVE UP FOR RETIREMENT.
IT'S THEIR SAVINGS BANK, RIGHT,
THEY'RE LIVING
IN THEIR SAVINGS BANK.
Powell: MY FAMILY,
LIKE A LOT OF FAMILIES,
WAS IN DETROIT,
STRUGGLING TO BUY A HOUSE.
YOU HAD A DUAL HOUSING MARKET,
ONE WHITE, ONE BLACK.
A HOUSING MARKET WITH ONE
WITH A LOT OF DEMAND,
ANOTHER HOUSING MARKET
WITH VERY LITTLE DEMAND.
MY FATHER LIVES IN THE HOUSE
THAT I GREW UP IN.
THAT HOUSE TODAY,
FIVE-BEDROOM HOUSE,
IS WORTH ABOUT $20,000.
THAT SAME HOUSE
BOUGHT IN THE SUBURBS
WOULD BE WORTH TODAY
ABOUT $320,000.
SO WHITES MOVING TO THE SUBURB
WERE BEING SUBSIDIZED
IN THE ACCUMULATION OF WEALTH,
WHILE BLACKS
WERE BEING DIVESTED.
AND THESE WERE
PUBLIC POLICY DECISIONS
IN WHICH ON ONE HAND
PEOPLE WERE GIVEN ACCESS
TO PROPERTY,
GIVEN TITLE,
AND SUBSEQUENTLY, WEALTH,
AND ON ANOTHER HAND,
WHERE PEOPLE WERE
NOT GIVEN ACCESS TO PROPERTY,
DID NOT GENERATE WEALTH,
AND DID NOT GENERATE
THE KIND OF OPPORTUNITY
FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.
