Existing comment:
Same dream, different endings:
Herb Kalisman and Eugene Burnett were of similar age and military experience, but they didn't share equally in the GI Bill's benefits.
Herb Kalisman:
In 1951, Herb Kalisman and his wife, Doris, took advantage of a low-interest GI Bill mortgage loan to purchase a $9,000 house in Levittown. Among its other attractions, this new suburb on Long Island, New York, provided access to excellent schools for their children. In 2006, the home, where the Kalismans still live, was valued at $420,000.
Eugene Burnett:
After the war, Eugene and his wife, Bernice, were kept from buying a house in Levittown. They were told that the "owners of this development have not yet decided to sell these homes to Negroes."
Eugene worked two jobs in order to qualify for a mortgage. In 1950, the Burnetts bought a $7,000 house in a new development in Amityville, New York, one that promoted itself as welcoming to all races. When they sold the house 10 years later to move to a new town with better schools, it was valued at only $10,000.
Because they were denied access to suburbs where housing values grew quickly, the Burnetts weren't able to accumulate as much financial security through home ownership as the Kalismans.
The enduring effects of housing discrimination:
People whose houses increase in market value are often able to use that equity to help finance their children's education or their own retirement. In addition, the increase in house value accumulates wealth that gets passed on to their children and even to their grandchildren. By contrast, people who are restricted to buying in neighborhoods where home values increase only modestly do not gain much "housing wealth" over the years. In this way, housing discrimination from past decades continues to have financial repercussions today. |