Why does America have a love affair with homeownership? For many, buying a home is no longer in their best interest and may actually harm their children's educational opportunities. This book argues that U.S. leaders need to reevaluate all housing policies and develop new ones that ensure that all Americans have greater access to affordable housing whether rented or owned. After describing homeownership's most common myths, the book shows why the financial circumstances America's financial underclass now face make it impossible for them to benefit from homeownership because they cannot afford to buy homes. The book then exposes the risks of "home buying while brown or black" by discussing U.S. policies that made it easier for whites to buy homes easily and cheaply, but harder and more costly for blacks and Latinos to do so. The book argues that remaining traces of racial discrimination and certain demographic features continue to make it harder for blacks and Latinos to receive homeownership's promised benefits.
Author: Mechele Dickerson Publisher: Cambridge University Press Published: 06/30/2014 Pages: 284 Binding Type: Hardcover Weight: 1.30lbs Size: 9.10h x 5.90w x 0.90d ISBN: 9781107038684
About the Author Dickerson, Mechele: - Mechele Dickerson is the Arthur L. Moller Chair in Bankruptcy Law and Practice at the University of Texas, Austin School of Law. She is a former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas Law School and previously taught on the law faculty of William and Mary Law School. She is the author of more than 30 articles, essays and book chapters on consumer debt and bankruptcy, and her writings have appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Boston Review, the Austin American-Statesman, the Foundation Press, the Michigan Law Review, the Emory Law Review, the Minnesota Law Review, the Indiana Law Journal, and other law journals.
