Blog
Residential Segregation in the Richmond Metro Area
October 24, 2022
Residential segregation is not the result of African-American self-segregation, in fact, data indicates that Black home-seekers would prefer to live in diverse neighborhoods but barriers prevent them from doing so. Residential segregation developed through explicit racially discriminatory public policies and private practices. These include explicit city ordinances requiring segregation, the legal permissibility of discrimination, government […]
Preserving the American Dream of Homeownership
January 29, 2021
By TJ Tann, Policy & Research Intern. Homeownership is a cornerstone of building and maintaining wealth in America, a hallmark of the American Dream. However, few realize that for many white Americans following World War II the American Dream was manufactured by granting families loans backed by the federal government. As a result, these families […]
How Our Programming Informs Policy
January 19, 2021
By Mariah Willaims As Virginia legislators convened to kickoff for the 2021 General Assembly Session, I was reminded of the past, and the role policy has played in both advancing and hindering access to opportunity throughout this country’s history. I was reminded that while we have made great strides in the housing industry to combat […]
Black Lives, Policing, and How the Illusion of Proximity Perpetuates Injustice
June 9, 2020
By Mariah Williams. This week’s post is a little long, but certainly not as long as the 400 years black people have suffered injustice in America or the time we’ve endured anti-blackness globally. Nothing amounts to the centuries of oppression that black people have experienced, but it’s important to recollect the events that have led […]
Intersectionality, Housing, and COVID-19: Responding to Code Switch’s “What Does Hood Feminism Mean for a Pandemic”?
May 19, 2020
By Mariah Williams. “Survival is the primary focus, especially for feminists in the hood and rural areas, and for low-income families. Right now, the focus has to be on surviving, on thriving and being able to take care of each other.” -Mikki Kendall Recently, I listened to an episode of one of my favorite podcasts, […]
Remembering the Past is Crucial to Rebuilding After this Crisis
April 28, 2020
By Mariah Williams. “If black people receive inferior care from hospitals and doctors, are black people to blame? If black people are less likely to be insured, are black people to blame? If hospitals in majority-black counties are overloaded with coronavirus patients, are black people to blame?” – Ibrahim X Kendi As we work to […]
Preventing Housing Displacement Amidst a Health Crisis
April 16, 2020
By Mariah Williams. “I didn’t relocate,” she reminded me. “I was displaced.” This is what Stacy said after I asked her what it was like relocating from New Orleans. I had not immediately made the distinction. The former suggested that there was a choice. The latter, however, suggested no such choice. She was put […]
Revisiting Covid-19, Evictions, and Racial Equity
April 8, 2020
By Mariah Williams and Bryan Moorefield. We all know that when white folks catch a cold, black folks get pneumonia. Simply put, economic hardships experienced by white people may be substantial, but the impact is doubly felt by black Americans who have historically been at the very bottom of the economic ladder. The COVID-19 outbreak […]
Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia 2023