A random on Facebook hit me up: "I THINK I KNOW HOW WE CAN DO REPARATIONS!" They proceeded to talk about giving Black and Latinx people 30-year no-fee/interest-free mortgages as a way to build wealth for Black ppl.

I was like: okay, but our homes are worth less bc WE own them. https://twitter.com/MaraGay/status/1298236228123451393

Black ppl's homes in Black neighborhoods are valued less even when they have the same features as white homes in the same cities, per @andreperryedu

those homes would not appreciate in value in a way that would let Black people catch up.

this also seems like a more convoluted workaround than just....reparations in the form of money?

clicked through and come to find out this person is a realtor. (Oh, and yes: they were.)

also, like...while Black folks are slowly "building equity" in these homes ...is the 75-year head start in wealth generation via homeownership that white people enjoy gonna get paused until Black people catch up?

How is this supposed to work re: the wealth gap, exactly?

i remember a friend/mentor once told me that when she was selling her home in suburban DC she took the extra step of taking down the pictures of her family/children and made sure she was not the person showing off her house to appraisers bc she ALREADY KNEW the game

YES.

White people have wealth because they were given MONEY that other people were not or had taken away.

like, what are we doing right now?