News Roundup

  • The Racial Homeownership Gap Widens as Affordability Worsens
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    A report from the National Association of Realtors found that approximately 2.6 million more households became homeowners in 2020 compared with 2019. Although homeownership is growing for some, the Black homeownership rate in 2020 was lower than it was a decade ago and is nearly 30 percentage points lower than the white homeownership rate.  

  • LA City Council Proposes Banning Some Renter Screening Questions
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    The Los Angeles City Council introduced renter-protection measures to expand housing access amid the city’s worsening housing crisis. The ordinances would prohibit landlords from screening potential tenants based on their criminal, eviction, or credit histories. “Black and brown folks are much more likely to have low credit and much more likely to be sucked into the criminal justice system, often really unfairly. When you use those as proxies for understanding whether or not somebody is going to be a good tenant, you’re just compounding that problem,” said Cynthia Strathmann, executive director of Strategic Actions for a Just Economy. 

  • Dallas Neighborhoods Are Fighting Toxic Zoning
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    Zoning regulations in southern and western Dallas have exposed Black and Latinx communities to harmful pollutants caused by new industrial plants. Activists are fighting to reevaluate existing land-use policies and adopt new, more equitable and sustainable strategies. “Zoning has been a tool to weaponize land against communities of color, and now communities of color are saying, wait, this is a tool we can use to restore our neighborhoods,” said Collin Yarbrough, a local activist.  

  • Berkeley Black Churches to Build Affordable Housing
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    Historically Black churches in Berkeley are developing affordable housing units for residents with low incomes, seniors, and residents experiencing homelessness. St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) and Ephesian Church of God in Christ will develop a 52-unit building and another 82-unit building on church property in partnership with the city and Richmond-based Community Housing Development Corporation. “I think something has to be done so that we get back to the idea that housing is a right, rather than a privilege,” said Rev. Anthony Hughes at St. Paul AME.