Racial Equity Resources

We know that redlining prevented Black would-be homeowners from obtaining conventional mortgages, but that did not necessarily end their dreams of buying a house. In this week's resources learn how unscrupulous people preyed on the fears of White homeowners, convincing them to sell at below-market prices and then reselling immediately to Black buyers at vastly inflated prices using a contract in lieu of a mortgage. The buyers built no equity but had all the obligations of ownership while the seller retained title and could evict the new owners for one missed payment. In the late 1960s the Chicago Contract Buyers League was created to fight back against the inequities of this system.