Targeting subsidies to majority-black neighborhoods could offset racial devaluation.

Evidence

I propose we revise all homeownership subsidies to target them directly to those living in neighborhoods that are undervalued because of the race of their occupants. Those neighborhoods deserve government tax subsidies, because the government’s original discrimination against black Americans gave rise to the current discrimination perpetuated by private white homebuyers. Since 10 percent seems to be the magic number of black homeowners that makes a neighborhood lose value, homeowners living in neighborhoods with more than 10 percent black homeowners would be eligible for all current tax subsidies. Won’t that lead to gentrification? Well, a tax break could help offset rising property taxes, and keep black homeowners in place; and as we’ve seen, when black homeowners remain, neighborhoods are much less attractive to many white homeowners. — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth, 239

Categorization

Category: Inspiration and Speculation

• SEED: A concrete, testable proposal (targeted subsidies above a 10% black-homeowner threshold) that could anchor a policy essay.

Related

• Neighborhoods with over 10 percent black homeowners lose value and deserve targeted tax subsidies. (similarity 0.89)
• Neighborhood wealth thresholds can legally proxy for race in subsidies (similarity 0.85)
• A wealth-targeted subsidy necessarily includes some white homeowners, making it imperfectly race-aligned. (similarity 0.84)
• Black homeownership subsidies fail if they ignore present-day white racism. (similarity 0.82)
• Neighborhood wealth thresholds can legally replicate the racial targeting of subsidies. (similarity 0.82)
• Race-based tax remedies fail constitutional review without proven discriminatory intent (similarity 0.82)
• Wealth-based neighborhood targeting can legally redirect homeownership subsidies (similarity 0.82)
• Present-day race-neutral tax subsidies deepen the racial wealth gap inherited from past discrimination. (similarity 0.80)
• Homeownership tax subsidies function as twenty-first-century redlining (similarity 0.80)
• Federal tax subsidies for homeownership function as lawful, contemporary redlining. (similarity 0.79)
• Black neighborhoods are financially losing investments for homeowners (similarity 0.79)
• Black homebuyers achieve higher appreciation only by buying into predominantly white neighborhoods. (similarity 0.78)
• White homebuyers reject neighborhoods with black residents regardless of amenities. (similarity 0.78)
• Black homeownership yields less wealth because white buyers’ choices set appreciation rates. (similarity 0.78)