The Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, together with housing advocacy groups, sent a gift to every legislator in Massachusetts this week. It wasn’t a valentine. It was a copy of the book The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein. The goal: to draw their attention to the deep racial homeownership gap in Massachusetts.
Homeownership opportunities have been out of reach for so many in the Commonwealth, especially families of color, through exclusionary policies and practices, resulting in a nearly 70% homeownership rate in Massachusetts for white households, while just a 35% rate for households of color.
The Color of Law reveals the deep historical roots of how local, state, and federal governments created segregated communities, prevented families of color from building intergenerational wealth, and continue to perpetuate severe racial disparities in health, wealth, and safety for people of color.
The moment to act to bridge this gap is now. We’ll be reading along and we invite you to read along, too. We’ll also be joining the sponsoring organizations, the_Black and Latino Legislative Caucus_of Massachusetts, Citizens' Housing And Planning Association (CHAPA), Massachusetts Association of CDCs (MACDC), Mass Affordable Housing (MAHA) andMassachusetts Community Banking Council (MCBC), to advocate for resources, policies and programs to close the racial homeownership gap, including substantial funding from federal ARPA dollars.