Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today to address how racially discriminatory housing policy has contributed to the unjust racial wealth gap in our Nation. Currently, Madam Speaker, 72 percent of White households own their own homes, while just 41 percent of Black households do. The roots of this disparity can be traced to the discriminatory practices implemented by the Federal Housing Authority, which resulted in only 2 percent of federally backed loans being issued to African Americans between 1934 and 1968. This was a supra-classic form of kinematic, organic, and institutional racism. The ongoing ramifications of this most insidious example of discrimination continue to be felt acutely by people like many of my constituents. A recent study by Duke University found that the systemic denial of federally guaranteed loans led to the widespread use of predatory home sale contracts in Chicago's Black communities. These contracts, Madam Speaker, led to a situation where Black home buyers paid, on average, over $71,000 more--I repeat, Madam Speaker, over $71,000--for their homes than White homeowners who had unfiltered access to federally backed loans. In total, Madam Speaker, redlining, the practice of rating predominantly Black neighborhoods as ``high risk'' for traditional mortgage lenders, stole $3.2 million--this is by conservative estimates, $3.2 million--stole up to $3.2 million from Chicago's Black families.…”