Financial institutions are trying to right a wrong after decades of systemic racial practices of Blockbustering and Redlining to keep Blacks and minority groups out of homeownership.
Several banks have rolled out programs in recent months seeking to increase buying opportunities for Black home shoppers, whose homeownership levels lag behind other minority groups and whites.
“Housing advocates are viewing the programs as efforts to repair the damage banks caused over the years, including the subprime mortgage lending in the early 2000s—risky high-interest mortgages to Americans with scuffed or limited credit—that contributed to the Great Recession and the low Black homeownership rate,” The Washington Post reports. (Read more: Disparity in Home Values Grows Between Whites, Minorities.)