ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT
Humphrey–Hawkins, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Racial Limits of Full Employment Dr. Julianne Malveaux The Humphrey–Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 stands as one of the most ambitious—and most constrained—economic justice laws in modern U.S. history. Conceived by Representative Augustus F. Hawkins and Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, the bill advanced a clear democratic proposition: that the federal government bears responsibility for ensuring that everyone who wants to work can find a job. Embedded in that proposition was a specific and enduring problem the nation had long refused to solve—the racial unemployment gap. At the time Humphrey–Hawkins was debated, as today, Black unemployment ran at roughly twice the white rate, regardless of the business cycle. Since at least the early 1970s, Black unemployment has remained approximately double white unemployment in expansions and recessions alike, a pattern consistently documented by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and rarely altered by growth alone. Hawkins understood that this was not accidental. It was the cumulative result of discrimination, occupational segregation, geographic isolation, exclusion from unions and capital, and sustained public disinvestment. The law that ultimately passed acknowledged full employment in principle but failed to confront this racial reality in practice. For Hawkins, civil rights laws alone could not close this gap. Without an affirmative federal commitment to job creation, the labor market would continue to reproduce racial inequality. That insight shaped the original Humphrey–Hawkins bill, which framed employment as
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a right, set explicit unemployment targets, and authorized direct federal job creation if private labor markets failed. Crucially, the bill’s logic rested on what decades of data had already shown: economic growth alone would not eliminate racial unemployment disparities. Only deliberate, enforceable policy could do that. The CEA and the Management of Disparity Inside the Executive Office of the President, the Council of Economic Advisers played a central role in reshaping the bill. By the late 1970s, racial disparities were acknowledged statistically but treated as secondary. I observed this orientation firsthand during my early service as a junior staff economist at the CEA. Unemployment was discussed almost exclusively in aggregate terms. The fact that Black unemployment remained structurally elevated—even during periods of growth—was rarely treated as evidence of policy failure. Instead, it was absorbed into the background of “labor market dynamics.” During internal discussions of Humphrey–Hawkins, some senior economists dismissed the bill’s core premise outright. “Congress doesn’t do that,” they said, insisting that enforceable job guarantees were neither credible nor workable. Hawkins’ vision of structural responsibility was reduced to a requirement for reporting and explanation. Over time, even the language shifted. Today, when the Federal Reserve Chair appears before Congress under Humphrey– Hawkins authority, the testimony is commonly referred to as a “monetary policy” report—reflecting the elevation of monetary policy over fiscal responsibility and full employment.
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CEA objections focused on macroeconomic flexibility, inflationary risk, and Federal Reserve independence. Missing from those objections was any serious engagement with the racial unemployment gap itself. The assumption was that if overall unemployment declined, racial gaps would narrow on their own, despite decades of evidence to the contrary. This omission was not neutral. It allowed policymakers to treat persistent Black unemployment as unfortunate but acceptable. From Enforceable Commitment to Explanation Under sustained executive-branch pressure, the bill was fundamentally altered. Enforcement mechanisms were stripped away. What emerged was a planning and reporting framework, not a guarantee. The final law required the President to submit annual economic goals and numerical targets for unemployment and inflation—but imposed no penalties for failure. It explicitly protected Federal Reserve independence and replaced mandatory job creation with hearings, explanations, and projections. For Black workers, this shift was decisive. Without enforcement, there was no requirement that policy respond when Black unemployment remained high even as white unemployment fell. The federal government was no longer obligated to intervene when racial disparities persisted. It was required only to explain them. This shift was the CEA’s central imprint on Humphrey–Hawkins. Humphrey–Hawkins reveals a lesson that remains urgent: without enforcement, racial inequality survives reform. Naming full employment as a goal, without mandating action, ensured that the benefits of growth would remain unevenly distributed.
Conclusion: Closing the Gap Hawkins Named The racial unemployment gap that motivated Gus Hawkins has not closed. Its persistence is not a mystery; it is the predictable outcome of policies that refuse to treat racial inequality as a central economic problem. For the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the legacy of Humphrey–Hawkins offers both a warning and a mandate. It warns against mistaking aggregate improvement for racial progress. And it mandates a return to the question Hawkins insisted upon: whether the federal government will continue to manage racial unemployment—or finally commit to ending it. The distance between aspiration and enforcement remains the fault line that has preserved the racial unemployment gap. Closing that gap was Hawkins’ unfinished work. It remains ours. Dr. Julianne Malveaux, is an author, economist, syndicated columnist, and former college president with a broad media background spanning newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. She has produced documentaries and programming focused on economic issues and is a dedicated advocate for social and economic justice. A leader in several African American women’s organizations, she has spoken widely to corporate, academic, and civic audiences. As president of Bennett College for Women, she led a four-year campus expansion that delivered four new buildings—the first in nearly three decades—and was later named President Emerita.
The elevation of inflation control over employment further institutionalized this disparity. As long as price stability was maintained, policymakers accepted chronically high Black unemployment as a tolerable tradeoff. Decisions framed as technical—about inflation targets, labor “slack,” or monetary credibility—carried racial consequences, even when those consequences went unnamed.
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United in Mission: The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Dedrick Assante-Muhammad The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation emerged during a transformative period in American history when African Americans were finally allowed to garner greater electoral political participation through Black elected representation. Both organizations emerged from the political opening created by the mid-20th-century Black Freedom Movement and the resulting Voting Rights Act. Both organizations were created to meet the needs of Black elected officials who were entering government structures that had never been built with them in mind. The Joint Center was founded in 1970 at Howard University by Dr. Kenneth B. Clark, Louis E. Martin, and Frank Reeves, with initial funding of $820,000 from the Ford Foundation. At that time, approximately 1,469 Black elected officials served in the United States (with over 10,000 Black elected officials serving today), and the founders envisioned the Joint Center as a hub for research, policy analysis, and leadership development to provide these newly elected officials with data, policy expertise, and strategic guidance. Six years later, in 1976, CBCF was established as a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research and educational institute by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which itself had been formed in 1971 by all 13 African American members of the 92nd Congress (today there is a recordbreaking 67 African American members). Both organizations were created to fill critical gaps that neither of the political parties nor research institutions adequately addressed at the time. The Joint Center quickly became known as America’s Black think tank, offering voter education, policy development, leadership training,
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and research on voting rights, economic development, education, and healthcare. Similarly, CBCF was designed to provide research, education, and resources to bolster CBC members’ advocacy for marginalized communities. Much of the collaboration between the Joint Center and CBCF was not the kind that shows up in headlines or in formal partnership agreements. Instead, it lived in the steady rhythm of policy work— as the Joint Center moved to focus more on research and analysis and less on training and development of Black elected officials, the Joint Center’s analysis more informed hearings, CBCF panels, and policy sessions. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Joint Center’s expansion into economic studies deepened this relationship. By the time we formally added economic research to our portfolio in 1990, the CBC and CBCF were increasingly focused on employment, economic equity, and workforce issues. Our expansion created an even tighter overlap in our policy priorities. CBC, CBCF, and the Joint Center were built to address different parts of the same problem: the lack of institutional support for Black political empowerment. When the Joint Center published its census of Black elected officials each year, CBCF’s programming helped develop some of the leaders who would later appear in that census. When CBC members introduced legislation on economic equity, Joint Center research often shaped the arguments and data that supported those efforts. When CBCF brought policy fellows to Washington, many of them learned directly from Joint Center reports and briefings that gave them the grounding they needed to contribute meaningfully in government settings.
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The supportive working relationship between the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation represents more than five decades of parallel evolution. Their contemporary partnership, exemplified by joint policy initiatives and shared research platforms, demonstrates how these institutions have matured from addressing immediate post-civil rights challenges to tackling complex systemic inequities through evidence-based policy recommendations. Together, they continue to shape the landscape of Black political and economic empowerment in America. This is best exemplified in our shared project Forward Together: Black Policy Playbook for an Equitable America. This resource distilled research across seven essential areas—from voting rights to economic opportunity to healthcare—with the goal of offering policymakers practical, evidence-based recommendations. In addition to joint research, the Joint Center regularly contributes to CBCF’s Annual Legislative Conference and policy training series. These convenings are important because they create space for Black policy professionals, advocates, and emerging leaders to engage directly with data and strategy. As new issues emerge—
AI, automation, data privacy, the changing nature of work—our partnership remains essential. Black communities face rapidly changing economic and technological landscapes, and addressing those challenges requires institutions that can bring together research, leadership development, and policy strategy. The challenges facing Black communities require deeper collaboration, not less. The Joint Center’s partnership with CBCF has been critical to the progress made so far, and it will continue to be essential to the progress yet to come. Dedrick Asante-Muhammad is the president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, with over 20 years of experience addressing racial and economic inequities. He previously held leadership roles at the NAACP, the National Action Network, and several other national advocacy/research organizations, where he advanced analysis, policy, and initiatives focused on closing the racial wealth divide. A recognized thought leader, he has contributed to influential reports and is widely featured across major media outlets.
In addition to joint research, the Joint Center regularly contributes to CBCF’s Annual Legislative Conference and policy training series.
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What Happens When Black Economic Power Is Undermined Alphonso David Before equity became a political talking point, a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Parren Mitchell of Maryland, was already rewriting the economic rules that kept Black people locked out of opportunity. A son of Baltimore, a veteran, and a civil rights activist, Mitchell understood something that remains true today: legal equality without economic access is an incomplete victory. Desegregated lunch counters did not, in and of themselves, put capital in Black hands. Voting rights did not automatically open bank vaults or contracting pipelines. Economic justice, he believed, had to be built—intentionally, structurally, and through law. If Black communities were to participate fully in the nation’s economic life, policy could not pretend neutrality where discrimination had long been the rule. As chair of the House Small Business Committee, Mitchell spearheaded legislation that opened federal contracting to Blackowned businesses—not as charity, but as a matter of access. If the federal government were the world’s largest purchaser of goods and services, Mitchell believed it had an obligation to ensure that Black entrepreneurs were not permanently shut out. Opportunity, in his view, was not aspirational language. It had to be legislated. The results were unmistakable. Federal contracting became a wealth engine rather than a locked door. Black-owned firms scaled, hired from their communities, and reinvested locally. That legacy matters now because the framework Mitchell and the Congressional Black Caucus helped build is being systematically dismantled. Policies designed to correct exclusion are being recast as excess. Equity-conscious tools are being stripped of their purpose in the name of neutrality. And the consequences are no longer
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abstract. As wealth concentrates upward, the racial wealth gap has widened rather than narrowed. Wages have stagnated. Job security has eroded. Black women, in particular, are experiencing a sustained economic contraction that too often goes unnamed. What we are witnessing is not a failure of Mitchell’s vision, but the predictable result of abandoning it. When opportunity is treated as optional and exclusion masquerades as fairness, the outcome is not balance—it is regression. That regression is already taking shape through a series of deliberate policy rollbacks. Some of the protections that Congressman Mitchell wrote into law are being contested. Others influenced by his efforts that once expanded access to capital and employment are being weakened or dismantled. This is seen through the erosion of fair-lending enforcement and the retreat from diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across both the public and private sectors. Accountability mechanisms meant to identify discrimination are being stripped of their force. Each of those decisions does not operate in isolation. They interact, compounding wage stagnation, limiting access to stable employment, and narrowing pathways to ownership, just as wealth is concentrating at the top. And troublingly, they are unfolding alongside a breakdown in clear, trustworthy, and timely labor data. When federal reporting becomes politicized, delayed, or incomplete, the harm is not only economic but epistemic. It will take years to fully measure the damage being done—years during which communities will feel the consequences long before the data catches up. In the absence of transparency, inequality deepens quietly, shielded from scrutiny, until it becomes harder to reverse.
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Long treated as a leading indicator of broader economic health, Black women are now experiencing a sustained contraction in the labor market that cannot be explained away as cyclical. As discrimination protections are dismantled and public-sector jobs shrink, Black women are being pushed out of stable employment. This is both a workforce and a wealth issue. When steady income disappears, households lose resilience, caregiving burdens intensify, and the ability to save or weather economic shocks erodes. By the time these losses are fully measured, they will already be entrenched. The lesson from Congressman Parren Mitchell and the Congressional Black Caucus is instructive. Economic opportunity does not expand on its own. It requires intentional policy, credible data, and leadership willing to confront exclusion rather than deny it. The choice before us is whether to allow that progress to be undone or to carry forward the creativity, discipline, and moral clarity that made it possible. Economic justice is not accidental. It is crafted by each of us. Together, we can build a future we can stand behind—but only if we allow the lessons of history, and the legacy of Congressman Parren Mitchell, to guide our choices rather than be quietly erased. Author Information
Long treated as a leading indicator of broader economic health, Black women are now experiencing a sustained contraction in the labor market that cannot be explained away as cyclical.
Alphonso David serves as the President & CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum. Mr. David brings more than two decades of experience in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, where he has worked to advance the rights of marginalized communities through policy, legislation, litigation, and advocacy. As President & CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, Mr. David engages with world leaders, business executives, policymakers, entrepreneurs, activists, and consumers globally on thought leadership; corporate and entrepreneurial career development; and advancing economic and social justice for marginalized communities across
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Amplifying Black Perspectives: Spotlight on Economic Advancement Which of the following best describes Black Americans’ current economic wellbeing?
More than 60% of respondents reported that Black Americans’ economic wellbeing is worse today than it was ten years ago. Unsure
9%
Black Americans’ economic wellbeing is better today than it was ten years ago
7%
Black Americans’ economic wellbeing is better today than it was ten years ago Black Americans’ economic wellbeing is about the same as it was ten years ago Black Americans’ economic wellbeing is worse today than it was ten years ago Unsure
Black Americans’ economic wellbeing is worse today than it was ten years ago
63%
Black Americans’ economic wellbeing is about the same as it was ten years ago
21%
DATA SOURCE: THE CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH AMPLIFYING BLACK PERSPECTIVES DATA PROJECT. RESULTS ARE BASED ON ANALYSIS OF AN ONLINE SURVEY OF 187 BLACK-IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUALS CONDUCTED BETWEEN JANUARY 14 – 30, 2026.
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Economic Advancement Policy Landscape Black Americans have faced barriers to economic opportunity throughout history, from centuries of unpaid labor and indentured servitude to the Jim Crow era, when laws enforcing segregation and discrimination systematically blocked access to employment. In the summer of 1929, the United States entered a period of unprecedented economic downturn known as the Great Depression. While the Great Depression affected all Americans, Black Americans faced significant hardship and unemployment rates of up to 50%. In the mid 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed a series of policies intended to bring the country out of the Great Depression. The bills authorized under the New Deal expanded the federal government’s role in economic recovery by creating jobs programs, establishing social safety net protections, regulating financial markets, and stabilizing key industries. However, the benefits of the New Deal largely accrued to white workers. Many New Deal programs excluded or marginalized Black Americans by omitting agricultural and domestic workers from Social Security coverage, allowing discriminatory local administration of relief programs, and reinforcing racial segregation in housing through federal lending policies. When the stock market rebounded in 1939, and World War II efforts in the 1940s ushered in a period of economic stability, Black Americans continued to struggle financially. In 1963, one in two Black Americans lived in poverty, compared to roughly one in six white Americans. In response to the crisis of American poverty, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the Great Society, a series of programs designed to expand social welfare in the United States. In 1964, Johnson signed the Food Stamp Act into law, permanently transforming the temporary food assistance programs of the Great Depression into a lasting federal safety net. In 1965, Congress amended the Social Security Act of 1935 to establish Medicaid, providing health insurance to economically disadvantaged individuals. These unprecedented actions expanded the social safety net for Americans. As civil rights activists continued to fight for equal opportunity under the law, they demanded laws aimed at
combatting racial discrimination in lending, housing, and employment from the 1964 Civil Rights Act to the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act. For the first time in the nation’s history, Black Americans could fully benefit from social services. The federal government expanded these efforts to include working parents, first in 1997 when President Bill Clinton established the Child Tax Credit at $400 per child, and then in 2009 when President Barack Obama expanded it to $1000. Recent legislation risks eroding the very mechanisms that have helped Black Americans exit the cycle of poverty. In July of 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, which includes the largest Medicaid cuts in the program’s history. In 2022, nearly 40% of insured Black Americans age 0-64 were covered by Medicaid. This bill will leave hundreds of thousands of Black Americans without healthcare coverage. The bill also adds work requirements to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In 2023, one in four SNAP recipients were Black. The new criterion create logistical hurdles for eligible recipients to receive food assistance. While the legislation also increases the child tax credit for some families, it excludes 17 million children whose families’ incomes are too low to file income taxes. As the policies take effect, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will leave Black Americans economically vulnerable. According to CBCF research, Black Americans are concerned about affordability, but they are not the only ones. Ahead of the pivotal 2026 midterm elections, a diverse array of voters are looking for candidates who will lower prices, because policies that benefit Black Americans benefit all Americans.
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Timeline 1929-1939 Known as the Great Depression, this era was marked by the most significant period of economic downturn in U.S. history.
August 14, 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, implementing social security and unemployment insurance.
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July 2, 1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act into law, prohibiting unlawful discrimination in the workplace and establishing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce the law.
August 31, 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Food Stamp Act into law, permanently establishing Great Depression-era food assistance programs.
July 30, 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments of 1965 into law, which established the Medicaid and Medicare programs.
October 28, 1974 President Gerald Ford signed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act into law, making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or religion in credit transactions.
April 11, 1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968 into law, including the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity.
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October 12, 1977 President Jimmy Carter signed the Community Reinvestment Act into law, outlawing redlining and making it easier for Black Americans to qualify for mortgages.
August 22, 1996 President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 into law, enacting the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
August 11, 1997 President Bill Clinton signed the Taxpayer Relief Act into law, establishing the child tax credit.
February 17, 2009 President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, expanding the child tax credit and earned income tax credit.
July 4, 2025 President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, adjusting the child tax credit criteria and cutting funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and affordable housing assistance.
March 11, 2021 President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan of 2021 into law, which expanded the child tax credit and unemployment benefits, and allocated a stimulus check to low-income individuals.
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“Our Ice is Just as Cold”: Why Black Business Ownership Must Be Central to the Black Wealth Agenda Dr. Andre M. Perry Executive Summary Black wealth is growing. Between 2019 and 2022, average Black household wealth increased, and by 2022, the median Black household held approximately $44,890 in net worth. Yet at the same moment, the racial wealth gap was also widening. For every dollar of wealth held by white households, Black households held roughly 15 cents. Progress that cannot close the gap is progress that must be interrogated. This report shows, and indeed argues, that the current growth in Black wealth is built on the advancement of Black people in a society of increased opportunities in housing, employment, and entrepreneurialism. The wealth gap reflects Black people’s current and historic ability to participate in local, regional, and global markets, having been throttled by systemic racism and discrimination. If wealth growth is due to Black people’s determination, then entrepreneurship offers a lens for understanding what will happen when they are given access. Drawing on a series of Brookings Institution research reports, this paper synthesizes evidence across four interlocking dimensions: the composition and fragility of current Black wealth gains; the suppressed scale and capacity of Black-owned businesses; the systematic market-driven devaluation of Black businesses and the communities that host them; and the broader well-being benefits that flow from Black employer-firm ownership. Together, these dimensions construct a policy imperative: investing in Black business is not a supplement to building Black wealth; it is a prerequisite.
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A Wealth Paradox: Growing Numbers, Widening Gaps The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances tells a story that, on the surface, is encouraging. Between 2019 and 2022, average Black household wealth increased more than during any previous comparable period.1,2 However, if wealth is growing, why is the gap still widening? The answer lies not in the failure of Black ambition or effort, but in the composition of that growth, and in the structural conditions that continue to throttle full Black participation in American economic life. A closer examination of the data exposes a structural vulnerability at the heart of Black wealth accumulation. According to Brookings analysis of the same Federal Reserve data, the growth in Black wealth during this period was overwhelmingly driven by a single asset class: net housing wealth, which increased by more than 19 percentage points as a share of Black wealth gains. Meanwhile, stock equity, a critical driver of wealth for higher-income Americans, remains severely underrepresented in the Black wealth stack, reflecting generations of exclusion from capital markets and less discretionary income. By contrast, White household wealth growth was more diversified, with meaningful gains across housing, corporate equity, business equity, and other asset classes. Black households saw essentially flat or negative growth in liquid assets and only marginal growth in stock holdings. This divergence matters enormously. Housing, the primary driver of Black wealth growth, is subject to neighborhood-level devaluation that uniquely affects Black homeowners. Previous Brookings research has documented that homes in Black-majority neighborhoods are undervalued by a cumulative total of $162 billion relative to
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comparable homes in non-Black neighborhoods, a product of longstanding patterns of discrimination embedded in appraisal practices, investment patterns, and consumer behavior.3 Wealth built on a systematically devalued asset is not a foundation for closing a generational gap. Lower homeownership rates compound this problem directly. According to the National Fair Housing Alliance’s 2025 State of Equitable Homeownership Report, in 2024, the White homeownership rate was 60 percent higher than the Black homeownership rate, an improvement from 2019, when it was 80 percent higher, reflecting real progress driven by targeted policy interventions and community advocacy. From 2019 to 2024, the homeownership rate for Black households increased by 14.29 percent, far outpacing the 1.78 percent increase for White households. Yet the gap remains wide, and Black applicants were denied mortgage loans at the highest rate of any group in 2024, at 27.11 percent, compared to 16.54 percent for White applicants. Even when Black households do achieve homeownership, they are more likely to live in neighborhoods where property values are systematically suppressed, meaning they accumulate less equity over time than their White counterparts in comparable properties. This matters directly for business creation. For most Americans, personal wealth, particularly home equity, is the primary source of startup capital. Entrepreneurs who lack savings or family wealth must rely on formal credit markets, which have historically underserved Black borrowers. Lower homeownership rates, combined with greater rates of property devaluation in Black neighborhoods, mean that the most common pathway to business startup capital is structurally narrower for Black entrepreneurs. Constrained access to the assets that seed businesses is one of the clearest mechanisms through which historical discrimination in housing continues to suppress Black business ownership today. The contrast with White wealth composition points directly to what is missing. For White households, business equity represented one of the most significant contributors to wealth growth between 2019 and 2022. For Black households, business equity growth was fractional
by comparison. And yet business equity is precisely the kind of productive, compounding, multigenerational asset that drives lasting wealth accumulation. It generates income. It employs other people. It anchors communities. It can be passed down. Business ownership accounts for approximately 20 percent of Black people’s wealth, a significant share that is simultaneously evidence of entrepreneurial vitality and a marker of how much further that share must grow. The numbers are stark: while Black Americans make up 14.4% of the U.S. population, only 3.3% of employer businesses (those with at least one paid employee) are Black-owned.3 Non-employer businesses, such as sole proprietorships where the owner works alone, show more racial equity in ownership rates. But non-employer firms generate far less wealth. According to Gallup’s Pathways to Wealth Survey, Black-owned employer businesses earn close to five times the revenue of Black-owned non-employer businesses.4 The gap between where Black business ownership currently sits and where it could be represents one of the most significant untapped economic opportunities in the American economy, and one of the most revealing tests of whether America is genuinely the land of opportunity it claims to be. The Entrepreneurial Capacity That Policy Ignores Research comprehensively demolishes the persistent myth that Black Americans are less entrepreneurially inclined than other groups. The data shows not a lack of drive but the consequences of throttled access. Data from Gallup’s Pathways to Wealth Survey reveals that Black and White Americans exhibit broadly similar entrepreneurial personality traits. 4 Measures of risk tolerance, innovation orientation, and ownership ambition show no meaningful racial differences that would explain the business ownership gap. The same research found that Black Americans aspire to business ownership at rates comparable to other racial groups. The constraints are not internal; they are external, structural, and policy-created. And crucially, when access expands, Black entrepreneurship responds. From 2017 to 2022, Black-owned employer businesses surged, accounting for over half of all new employer businesses nationally. This is not the story of a community lacking the will to build. It is the story of what
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happens when barriers are reduced, and a preview of what becomes possible when they are removed entirely. The most significant structural barrier is the racial wealth gap itself. Starting a business requires capital. Research by economists Fairlie, Robb, and Robinson found that Black entrepreneurs with credit scores identical to those of white entrepreneurs face substantially worse lending outcomes: higher denial rates, higher interest rates, and smaller loan amounts when they do obtain credit.5 The playing field is not level, even when individual qualifications are equal. Access to capital disparities persists even through the Small Business Administration’s lending programs. Analysis of SBA data from 2017 to 2025 shows that while Black entrepreneurs have made gains in accessing certain SBA loan programs, they remain underrepresented relative to their population share in most lending categories.3 Recent federal policy changes that have challenged race-conscious lending programs and community development financial institution support threaten to deepen these existing disparities at precisely the moment when Black business formation has been accelerating. From 2017 to 2022, the number of Black-owned employer businesses surged, accounting for over half of all new employer businesses. In 2022, these firms added $212 billion in revenue to the economy and paid over $61 billion in salaries. This growth was not an accident; it reflected sustained entrepreneurial energy, the success of targeted support programs, and the gradual broadening of capital access. It represents exactly what investment in Black business can achieve. The policy question is whether that momentum will be supported, neglected, or actively undermined. One additional structural barrier deserves attention: the intergenerational transmission of business knowledge and networks. Research from the Gallup Pathways to Wealth Survey shows that entrepreneurs who grew up in households where a family member owned a business are substantially more likely to own employer firms themselves.4 The data reveals a clear generational pathway: among business owners broadly, a significant share acquired their business or learned to run one through family. For Black Americans, this
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intergenerational channel is thinner, not because the entrepreneurial tradition was absent, but because it was repeatedly and deliberately severed. The Systematic Devaluation of Black Businesses In the world of economics, markets are supposed to reward quality. A better restaurant earns more customers and grows revenue faster than a worse one. A better-managed business outperforms its peers. These mechanisms are foundational assumptions of how markets function. In Black communities, those mechanisms are distorted. A 2020 Brookings study, “Five-Star Reviews, One-Star Profits,” examined the financial performance and consumer ratings of businesses across 86 metropolitan areas with significant Black populations.6,7 The research matched Dun & Bradstreet establishmentlevel data with Yelp customer ratings. The findings were notable. First, the study confirmed what many Black business owners already know: minority-owned businesses receive customer ratings just as high as, and often higher than, White-owned businesses on Yelp. Black, Brown, and Asian-owned businesses rated as well or better than comparable White-owned firms, controlling for industry sector. The goods and services are competitive in quality. As many Black elders have put it, the ice has always been just as cold. The imperative is to build the systems, the policies, and the investments that finally ensure the market reflects that truth. Second, the study confirmed that online reviews matter enormously for business performance. A one-star increase in Yelp ratings predicts a meaningful increase in revenue growth over a three-year period. And every 10 reviews a business receives translates to additional percentage-point gains in revenue growth. Reviews function as a form of social capital, a network of endorsements that drives customer discovery and trust. Third, the study found that businesses in Black-majority neighborhoods receive substantially fewer reviews and consistently lower ratings than businesses in comparable predominantly White neighborhoods. Businesses in Black-majority ZIP codes receive 50 to 100 fewer Yelp reviews on average, and their ratings are lower by approximately
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0.2 stars lower. This occurs not because the businesses are worse (they are not), but because of the neighborhood’s racial composition. The consequences for revenue are significant. Highly rated businesses in Black-majority neighborhoods experience lower revenue growth than poorly rated businesses in neighborhoods with less than 1 percent Black residents. An excellent business in a Black neighborhood underperforms a mediocre business in a predominantly White neighborhood. The quality signal that markets are supposed to deliver for superior service does not function the same way in Black communities. The cumulative cost of this market failure is substantial. The Brookings analysis estimates that Black businesses lose between $1.3 billion and $3.9 billion in annual revenue due to this systematic undervaluation. The researchers consider the lower figure conservative. Suppressed revenues reduce hiring capacity, limiting employment opportunities in the community. Constrained growth discourages new entrants, weakening competition and narrowing the range of goods and services available to residents. Diminished business equity directly depresses individual and community wealth, since business ownership accounts for approximately 20 percent of Black household wealth. Devaluing Black businesses is not only a market inefficiency but also a mechanism that perpetuates inequality across generations. The racial composition of a neighborhood functions as a market signal that systematically depresses the value of businesses within it, regardless of their actual quality. Place matters, and Black neighborhoods have been systematically rendered less valuable by the same structures of segregation and discrimination that have shaped American residential patterns for generations. Beyond Revenue: Business Ownership and the Architecture of Well-being Economic arguments for building Black businesses are powerful on their own terms, but the case is even stronger when one examines what business ownership, particularly employer-firm ownership, does for human well-being beyond the balance sheet.
Black business owners, including those who own employer firms, report higher levels of subjective well-being than non-businessowner Black workers, according to the Gallup Pathways to Wealth Survey.4,8 Well-being here encompasses multiple dimensions: financial well-being, purpose and meaning, social relationships, community engagement, and physical health. The relationship between business ownership and well-being holds even after controlling for income and wealth levels, suggesting that ownership itself—the autonomy, the agency, the investment in something one has built—contributes to human flourishing in ways that a paycheck alone cannot replicate. This finding connects to a broader truth about the psychology of wealth-building. Owning a business is not merely an income strategy; it is a statement of agency. For Black Americans whose economic agency has been systematically constrained, business ownership carries particular resonance. It is a form of self-determination that has historically been contested and suppressed. Black-owned employer businesses also serve as important employers of Black workers. Research on the employment patterns of Blackowned firms reveals that these businesses hire Black workers at rates substantially higher than White-owned firms. For Black workers who face discrimination in hiring at White-owned firms, well-documented audit studies show that resumes with distinctively Black names receive fewer callbacks. Black-owned businesses represent a domain of labor-market inclusion that counters structural exclusion. The growth of Black employer firms is thus not only a wealth story; it is also a jobs story, an equity story, and a community stability story. Growing the number of Black employer-firm owners today is an investment in the next generation of Black ownership, precisely the compound return the racial wealth gap has historically been denied. Policy Recommendations Expanding Access to Capital The most immediate and tractable barrier for Black entrepreneurs is access to capital. Policy interventions must address this at both the demand and supply sides. On the supply side, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) have demonstrated effectiveness in reaching borrowers underserved by conventional
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lenders, providing patient capital, technical assistance, and flexible underwriting that accounts for the structural disadvantages Black entrepreneurs face. Federal support for CDFIs must be maintained and expanded. The SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program and similar initiatives have historically served as important pathways for Black entrepreneurs to access federal contracting opportunities. Research suggests that when these programs function as intended, with genuine capacity-building support rather than merely certification, they accelerate the growth of Black employer firms. As these programs face political headwinds, defending and strengthening them is a priority. State and local governments also have tools available. Public pension funds and sovereign wealth vehicles could be directed to invest in funds managed by Black investment professionals, a form of capital access that benefits Black entrepreneurs while also building the capacity of Black-owned financial institutions. Procurement programs that direct public contracts to Black-owned businesses create revenue streams that partially substitute for the private-market access denied by devaluation. Addressing Community-wide Devaluation The market failure documented in the business devaluation of research requires interventions that go beyond individual business support. If the racial composition of a neighborhood systematically suppresses the value that quality businesses receive, then place-based investment that changes neighborhood conditions is also business investment. Federal programs that direct resources to majority-Black commercial corridors, through infrastructure investment, public safety improvements, and targeted marketing, can shift the neighborhood conditions that mediate business performance. Building the Ecosystem Individual business support, however well-targeted, is insufficient without the ecosystem conditions that allow businesses to grow. Research on the most successful Black business corridors reveals that business clustering, mutual support networks, shared
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professional services, and anchor institutions that generate consistent customer traffic are essential. Policy should invest in these ecosystem conditions: business improvement districts in Black commercial corridors, Black chamber of commerce capacity building, HBCUs as anchors for Black business ecosystems, and convening platforms that facilitate business-to-business relationships among Black entrepreneurs. Protecting Gains in a Turbulent Environment The current political environment poses specific risks to Black business growth. Programs that have supported that growth, including targeted lending, set-asides, CDFI funding, and SBA diversity initiatives, are under legal and political challenge. Business advocates and policymakers committed to racial economic equity must be prepared to defend existing programs, document their effectiveness, and develop alternative legal frameworks when race-specific targeting is constrained. The evidence base for these programs is strong, and that evidence must be deployed in advocacy and litigation contexts as well as in policy development. Conclusion There is a version of the Black wealth narrative that is comfortable and incomplete. In that version, Black wealth is growing, the numbers are improving, and the task is to celebrate progress while nudging at the margins. That version ignores the composition of Black wealth growth, the widening of the racial wealth gap even as Black wealth increases, and the deeper truth that progress driven by Black determination, without the structural conditions to sustain and compound it, will not close a gap built over centuries. The growth in Black wealth is real, and it is a testament to the resilience, drive, and entrepreneurial spirit of Black Americans who have built and rebuilt their economic lives despite sustained exclusion. That same spirit, given genuine access, is capable of far more. The Black entrepreneur is not a marginal figure in the American economic story. She may be its most clarifying example: someone who has pursued the promise of ownership and self-determination against the full weight of structural opposition. The entire country has something to learn from that.
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But determination alone cannot close the gap. Business equity, the diversified, productive, compounding, multigenerational asset class that drives durable wealth accumulation, remains dramatically underdeveloped relative to the entrepreneurial potential Black Americans demonstrably possess. Wealth among Black people is concentrated in housing that is systematically undervalued and in a stock equity position that reflects generations of capital market exclusion. Correcting this requires more than individual effort. It requires macroeconomic policy changes, including tax code reform that stops privileging the transmission of existing wealth and starts enabling the creation of new wealth by those who were historically denied it. The unrealized gains of Black businesses, the revenue not earned because of market devaluation, the employer firms not started because startup capital was unavailable, represent a quantifiable loss for Black communities, for the cities that contain them, and for a national economy that cannot reach its potential while leaving so much capacity throttled. An analysis of Black business ownership ultimately measures whether America is the land of opportunity it claims to be. The evidence in this report shows how much of that promise remains unrealized, and exactly what investing in it would produce. Dr. Andre M. Perry is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Community Uplift at the Brookings Institution. A nationally recognized commentator on race, structural inequality, and education, he authored “Black Power Scorecard: Measuring the Racial Gap and What We Can Do to Close It” (Metropolitan Books, 2025) and “Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities” (Brookings Press, 2020). Perry co-authored the landmark 2018 Brookings report “The Devaluation of Assets in Black Neighborhoods” and has presented its findings nationally, including before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.
References Perry, A. M., Stephens, H., & Donoghoe, M. (2024). Black wealth is increasing, but so is the racial wealth gap. Brookings. https://www. brookings.edu/articles/black-wealth-is-increasing-but-so-is-theracial-wealth-gap/ Aladangady, A., Bricker, J., Chang, A. C., Goodman, S., Krimmel, J., Moore, K. B., Reber, S., Volz, A. H., & Windle, R. (2023). Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances. https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/ files/scf23.pdf Perry, A. M., Stephens, H., & Donoghoe, M. (2025). Reaping the unrealized gains of Black businesses. Brookings. https://www. brookings.edu/articles/reaping-the-unrealized-gains-of-blackbusinesses/ Rothwell, J., & Perry, A. M. (2024). Why don’t more Americans work for Black-owned firms? Implications for increasing well-being. Brookings. Retrieved April 19, 2026, from https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ why-dont-more-americans-work-for-black-owned-firms-implicationsfor-increasing-well-being/ Fairlie, R., Robb, A., & Robinson, D. T. (2022). Black and White: Access to Capital Among Minority-Owned Start-ups. Management Science, 68(4), 2377–2400. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.3998 Perry, A. M., Rothwell, J., & Harshbarger, D. (2020). Five-star reviews, one-star profits: The devaluation of businesses in Black communities. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/five-star-reviews-onestar-profits-the-devaluation-of-businesses-in-black-communities/ Perry, A., Rothwell, J., & Harshbarger, D. (2020). The devaluation of businesses in Black communities. Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/ uploads/2020/02/2020.02_DevOfBizInBlackCommunities_PerryRothwell-Harshbarger-final.pdf Gallup. (n.d.). The Narrow Pathways to Wealth: Family Businesses and Employer Business Ownership. Retrieved April 19, 2026, from https://www.gallup.com/analytics/643103/jpmc-kauffman-wealthpathways.aspx
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The Trump Administration’s Attacks on Fair Housing and Lending Threaten Pathways to Homeownership and Economic Stability for Black Communities Nikitra Bailey and Maureen Yap Housing is fundamental to the American Dream, and homeownership is the primary way millions of Americans successfully enter the middle class and achieve economic security. However, federal housing policies and private practices have intentionally denied equal participation for Black people. Whether redlining, exclusionary zoning laws, appraisal bias, discriminatory credit scoring, automated underwriting, and algorithmic systems, and more, Black communities face structural barriers denying opportunities to access housing fairly and the financial stability that it can provide. Innovative, equitable policies and practices began to reverse this trend. From 2019 through 2024, the Black homeownership rate increased by over 14 percent. This was the first time the Black homeownership rate had increased since the Housing and Financial Crisis of 2008 sent it spiraling to levels not seen since before the landmark Fair Housing Act of 1968. However, the Trump Administration’s policies are causing serious economic and personal injuries that are undermining our already fragile housing market and our nation, risking this progress. Undermining the opportunity for Black communities to fairly access housing creates personal and economic challenges for this critical market segment. It also places the safety and soundness of the housing finance system in jeopardy, as 70 percent of all future household growth will be comprised of individuals and families of color. If they are locked out of the housing market, the system will fail. Conversely, Black Americans should have expanded opportunities to fairly access housing, homeownership, and the American Dream.
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Segregation and Discrimination Continue to Be Part of the U.S. Housing Market The roots of discrimination in housing are deep, pernicious, and persistent. Thousands of race-conscious housing, banking, and other policies created systems and structures that were highly inequitable. Unfair laws and policies also produced a dual market—a separate and unequal housing system that rewarded White households while simultaneously debilitating Black Americans and other people of color. The Trump Administration’s Actions Are Worsening the Housing Crisis and Driving Up the Cost of Housing for Everyone, Including Black Communities The people of America are facing a dire, fair, and affordable housing crisis that impacts every aspect of their lives. In this country, place is inextricably linked to opportunity: where we live determines our access to fresh air, clean water, well-resourced schools, quality healthcare facilities, reliable transportation, good jobs, consistent broadband service, and much more. In the U.S., too many people are stuck in places that impede rather than promote their ability to thrive.
The people of America are facing a dire, fair, and affordable housing crisis that impacts every aspect of their lives
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THE FAIR HOUSING CRISIS Housing Discrimination Complaints Are at Record Highs
agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Most recently, the nation has faced the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history, which the administration used to further eviscerate key agencies that support fair housing and civil rights. In sum, the administration has abandoned the people of America, including Black communities, during the most dire fair housing crisis in decades. The Black-White Homeownership Gap Remains Wide and Persistent
SOURCE: NATIONAL FAIR HOUSING ALLIANCE, 2024 FAIR HOUSING TRENDS REPORT
The nation’s housing crisis is severely restricting the ability of Black communities and other underserved families to fairly access housing opportunities. At this moment, we are seeing the highest number of fair housing discrimination complaints in two decades. Recent trends include: • Disability related discrimination accounted for the largest share of complaints at 54.6 percent, followed by race, national origin, sex, familial status, and religion. • Complaints based on national origin rose 8.45 percent from the previous year, marking the highest number since 2018. • Retaliation complaints more than doubled from the previous year to the highest recorded level.
The Black-White homeownership gap remains wide and persistent, with the White homeownership rate being 62 percent higher than the Black homeownership rate.1 In 1960 (before the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968), there was a 27-percentage point gap between Black homeownership (38 percent) and White homeownership (65 percent). So, the current Black-White homeownership gap of 28 percentage points is higher than it was before the passage of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) in 1968.
The escalating complaints and attacks on community-based fair housing groups come amid a steep decline in the ability to enforce vital civil rights protections. The administration has pushed for drastic cuts to funding and staffing for federal fair housing enforcement
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Homeownership Rates by Race/Ethnicity (2016-2024)
THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS Housing Costs Are at Record Highs
The Trump Administration’s actions are undermining recent growth in homeownership rates for underserved communities. According to The State of Equitable Homeownership 2025 Report, from 2019 through 2024, homeownership rates were on an upward trend for people of all backgrounds, and the Black homeownership rate grew 14.29 percent. Housing Costs Remain Elevated However, by Q2 2025, the Black homeownership rate was only 43.9%, down from 46.4% at Q4 2024, reversing progress to close gaps. Moreover, the Trump Administration is attempting to eliminate Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCPs) under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), despite SPCPs providing $82 million in reduced costs to 57,282 borrowers of all races from 2022 to 2024 while helping to generate $17.2 billion in economic impact. The Administration is also trying to decimate the longstanding use of disparate impact, a critical fair lending rule under the FHA and ECOA that has been upheld by courts for more than 40 years as essential to enforcing equal lending opportunities and as a tool lenders rely on to remove arbitrary and unnecessary barriers. These actions are among many other harmful actions by the Administration that threaten opportunities for Black communities.
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SOURCE: JCHS TABULATIONS OF US CENSUS BUREAU, ACS 1-YEAR ESTIMATES
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Homeownership Costs at Record Highs
More Than Half of Renters of Color Are “Cost-Burdened” The number of cost-burdened renter households has reached record
SOURCE: JCHS TABULATIONS OF THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, ACS 1-YEAR ESTIMATES
At every measure, Black communities are facing a dire affordable housing crisis, which severely restricts their ability to access housing opportunities. Housing costs are a key driver of inflation, and everyday people are feeling the squeeze. In the U.S., the “shelter” category of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) includes housing costs, such as rent and homeownership costs. Currently, shelter costs are the largest contributor to headline inflation. As of December 2024, the index for shelter was the largest contributor to the monthly increase in the allitems index, accounting for nearly 37 percent of the total increase. In addition, home prices continue to rise, with the median sale price in January 2025 increasing by almost 5% year-over-year, marking the 19th consecutive month of annual growth. Moreover, the housing affordability crisis is being felt by everyone. Compared with housing prices before the COVID pandemic, the income needed to afford a median-priced home at today’s prices has risen significantly. Furthermore, the rising costs of homes, high interest rates, student loan debt, and overall increased living expenses are making homeownership unattainable for young Black people. According to a new report, only 14 percent of Black Gen Zers and 32 percent of Black millennials own their home, which is roughly half the rate of White Gen Zers and millennials.
highs, further deepening the housing affordability challenge. As of 2023, millions of renter households were “cost-burdened,” meaning they spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities. Black and Latino renters were more likely than White renters to be cost-burdened. More than half of Black renters (57 percent) and Latino renters (53 percent) were cost-burdened, while about 45 percent of White renters were cost-burdened. These disparities make it more difficult for Black and Latino renters to build wealth and save for down payments for homeownership. Thus, it is critical to halt the Trump Administration’s assault on the nation’s fair housing and fair lending policies to ensure Black communities can equitably access housing, homeownership, and economic stability. EQUITABLE HOUSING SOLUTIONS ARE NEEDED TO ENSURE FAIR HOUSING AND EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR BLACK COMMUNITIES Congress Must Increase Oversight of the Trump Administration’s Actions Attacking Fair Housing and Lending The Trump Administration has engaged in a series of actions that track nearly 70 percent of the destructive Project 2025 and are only
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worsening the fair and affordable housing crisis. For example, the Administration weakened vital fair housing and lending protections; defunded community-based fair housing organizations serving disabled veterans, seniors, families with children, survivors of sexual and physical violence, Black, Latino, Asian, and Native communities, LGBTQ+ people and more; and eviscerated staffing at critical agencies such as HUD, CFPB, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), DOJ—all under the guise of “increasing efficiency.” These actions leave Black individuals and families unprotected and with limited recourse to address illegal housing discrimination.
Research shows that homes in White neighborhoods are appraised at values nearly 250 percent higher than comparable homes in similar Black neighborhoods. Disparities tend to be greatest in the South. One study found that six Southern states (GA, LA, SC, NC, MS, and AL) accounted for nearly 50 percent of the overvalued homes of White owners in majority-Black neighborhoods. Overall, White communities have access to over $15 trillion more in capital because of racialized appraisal practices, and appraisal bias caused homes in Black neighborhoods in 113 metro areas throughout the U.S. to be devalued by $162 billion.
Recommendation: Congress should— • Lead the way in protecting congressionally mandated civil rights gained through people’s blood, sweat, tears, and lives sacrificed; demonstrating an unwavering commitment to racial equity; promoting anti-discrimination measures; and recognizing the many ways that diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and fair housing and fair lending benefit American society. • Provide increased oversight to ensure a fully staffed and fullyfunded HUD, CFPB, and DOJ, as well as full funding of the Fair Housing Initiatives Program and Fair Housing Assistance Program grants to the community-based organizations on the frontlines working to assist Black communities and others with being made whole from housing discrimination. • Require the FHFA, CFPB, and HUD to preserve the use of critical fair housing and lending tools established by important civil rights laws, such as the FHA and ECOA. These tools are vital to combatting discrimination in housing and lending and protecting Black communities from discrimination. They have enabled greater access to homeownership and fair credit opportunities; directed capital to disinvested urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods; reformed exclusionary zoning ordinances to increase the affordable housing supply; and implemented fair financial pilot programs to bring safe, affordable credit opportunities to underserved communities, especially in the South.
The Administration has rolled back several protections that would ensure fair, consistent appraisal for people of all communities. In March 2025, HUD’s FHA rescinded its policies that clarified the application of the Fair Housing Act to appraisal discrimination and established standards for FHA lenders to follow in connection with a consumer’s request for Reconsideration of Value (ROV). In July 2025, the administration disbanded the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity. In September 2025, HUD withdrew guidance providing support for the Fair Housing Act’s coverage of appraisal discrimination. These actions will undermine consumers’ ability to access the full benefits of homeownership.
Appraisal Bias Reform is Needed to Protect Black Family Wealth Appraisal discrimination continues to pose barriers to Black households seeking to build wealth through homeownership.
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Recommendation: Congress should continue to promote appraisal reform, including by: • Passing the Appraisal Modernization Act sponsored by Sen. Warnock and Rep. Pressley, which would codify a consumer’s right to appeal an appraisal through a standardized reconsideration of value process. • Requiring HUD to investigate complaints of appraisal discrimination. • Encouraging the FHFA to release property-level appraisal data. • Encouraging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce discretion in appraisals and increase quality control and monitoring to ensure fair and consistent outcomes. • Encouraging lenders and appraisal management companies to implement sound methods to identify and prevent appraisal discrimination, and to implement fair automated valuation models. • Encouraging The Appraisal Foundation to require fair housing training developed by fair housing experts and to remove
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discriminatory barriers to the appraisal profession (including the supervisory appraiser requirement). • Encouraging the real estate industry to develop alternatives to the sales comparison approach. Comprehensive Housing Legislation with Supply-Side and DemandSide Solutions is Needed to Solve the Nation’s Fair and Affordable Housing Crisis The dangerous Project 2025 urges Congress to prioritize legislative support for single-family home zoning, which would not address the nation’s housing crisis. Single-family zoning has been used to effectively lock out renters, low-income individuals, Black people, and more from certain neighborhoods. While zoning and land-use reforms are often discussed as tools to improve rental housing affordability, certain reforms, such as upzoning and minimum lot sizes, can also support the creation of more affordable, entry-level homeownership opportunities. For example, zoning reforms can help promote missing middle housing, such as condominiums in triplexes and quadplexes, and a range of other options beyond typical singlefamily detached homes and high-rises, thereby reducing construction costs and home prices. Yet, the Administration is weakening HUD’s enforcement of its Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule jeopardizing the opportunity for local communities to design solutions to remove discriminatory barriers that prevent Black people and other protected classes from accessing a safe and affordable home near well-resourced schools, reliable transportation and consistent broadband service, healthy foods, quality healthcare, fresh air, clean water, and living wage jobs. AFFH is also key to ensuring that proposed data centers in local communities are built in ways that mitigate environmental impacts and other harms. Recommendation: Congress should— • Conduct oversight over HUD’s attempts to weaken enforcement of its AFFH mandate and ensure HUD’s investigations of Boston and Minneapolis’s housing policies do not result in denying Black people and other protected classes the ability to live and thrive in inclusive and vibrant communities. • Pass the Housing Crisis Response Act sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member, Rep. Waters,
which includes $150 billion for comprehensive, supply-side and demand-side solutions to address the nation’s fair and affordable housing crisis, including funding for First-Generation homebuyers, Housing Choice Vouchers, rural rental housing, and housing for seniors and persons with disabilities. • Pass the Appraisal Modernization Act sponsored by Sen. Warnock and Rep. Pressley. • Pass the Strengthening Housing Supply Act sponsored by Ranking Member Waters. • Pass the Neighborhood Homes Reinvestment Act, incorporating fair housing principles, to build and renovate 500,000 homes in distressed communities nationwide. States and Federal Courts Must Continue Leadership of Advancing Fair Housing Opportunities for Black Communities States and federal courts are not waiting for Congress to do its job and conduct appropriate oversight over the Trump Administration’s attacks on fair housing and lending. Instead, more than 10 states have created First-Generation Down Payment Assistance programs, allowing homebuyers who are the first in their families to buy a home to overcome the primary barrier to homeownership: a lack of down payment capital. California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, and a multitude of local jurisdictions have enacted First-Generation programs to assist first-generation, firsttime homebuyers compete against institutional investors who are outbidding owner-occupants in communities with affordable housing stock. The Downpayment Toward Equity Act would enable the federal government to do the same by supporting 5 million first-generation homebuyers becoming homeowners for the first time, with 1.7 million of them Black and mortgage-ready. Likewise, Washington State’s Covenant Homeownership Program, a SPCP designed to reduce longstanding racial injustices in homeownership in the state, was recently upheld by U.S. District Judge John H. Chun. Judge Chun denied the plaintiff’s request to stop Washington’s SPCP and concluded that Washington State has a compelling interest in addressing its documented history of discrimination—including redlining, racially restrictive covenants, government takings, exclusionary zoning, and more—that helpedcreate today’s racial homeownership gaps
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The Trump Administration’s actions are reversing success in closing homeownership and wealth gaps for Black communities throughout the state. Washington’s SPCP has already provided down payment and closing cost assistance to more than 1,100 first-time homebuyers whose families were excluded from the opportunity to own a home because they are Black, Latino, Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Korean, or Asian Indian. Conclusion The Trump Administration’s actions are reversing success in closing homeownership and wealth gaps for Black communities; driving up the cost of housing; and leaving millions exposed to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation with no structure for protection. The actions are not making housing cheaper. And they threaten longstanding and transformative progress. “Out of Many, One” is our national motto—any effort to divide, stoke fear, and treat people unfairly is not in line with our nation’s founding principles. America is at its best when united and relentlessly pursuing a country where everyone, regardless of background, has a fair chance to realize their American dreams. Moreover, studies show that addressing discrimination targeted at Black people would grow the economy by $5 trillion over a five-year period. Doing so would advance fairness for Black people; generate billions in local revenues; and create thousands of jobs.
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Nikitra Bailey serves as the executive vice president of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA). She develops and spearheads NFHA’s visionary, transformational policy, and communications strategies to end housing discrimination and advance equitable opportunities. Her leadership contributed to passage of federal legislation, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and American Rescue Plan Act, and reforming the Paycheck Protection Program, enabling fairer housing and lending opportunities for millions of people in the U.S. She has delivered expert congressional testimony, been named one of DC’s most influential people shaping policy, and she is a frequent media contributor. Maureen Yap recently retired from serving as the VP of Public Policy and Senior Counsel for Fair Lending at the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA). Her expertise is in fair lending, artificial intelligence, mortgage policy, and appraisal discrimination, and more. Over her 30-year career, Ms. Yap worked in a variety of civil rights roles in addition to her leadership at NFHA, including leading the Federal Reserve Board’s Fair Lending Enforcement Section and founding the Unfair and Deceptive Acts Practices Section (UDAP). She also served as an Associate at the law firm of Relman Colfax PLLC. References 1. Michael Akinwumi, Lindsay Augustine, Nikitra Bailey, et al., (2025, Nov.). 2025 Fair Housing Trends Report. National Fair Housing Alliance. https://nationalfairhousing.org/wp-content/ uploads/2025/11/2025-NFHA-Fair-Housing-Trends-Report.pdf 2. Dana Anderson (2026, Feb. 3). Black Gen Zers and Millennials Are Half As Likely to Own Their Home As White Counterparts. Redfin https://www.redfin.com/news/homeownership-rate-byrace-2025/ 3. Fannie Mae (2022, Feb. 16). Appraising the Appraisal. https:// www.fanniemae.com/research-and-insights/publications/ appraising-the-appraisal. 4. Jonathan Rothwell and Andre M. Perry (2022, Dec. 5). How
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Racial Bias in Appraisals Affects the Devaluation of Homes in Majority-Black Neighborhoods. Brookings Metro. https://www. brookings.edu/articles/how-racial-bias-in-appraisals-affectsthe-devaluation-of-homes-in-majority-black-neighborhoods/ 5. Junia Howell and Elizabeth Korver-Glenn (2022). Appraised: The Persistent Evaluation of White Neighborhood as More Valuable Than Communities of Color. Eruka and Washington University on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy. https://static1. squarespace.com/static/62e84d924d2d8e5dff96ae2f/t/63647 07034ee737d19dc76da/1667526772835/Howell+and+KorverGlenn+Appraised_11_03_22.pdf 6. National Association of Home Builders (2025, Jan. 15). Housing Inflation Moderates amid Higher Energy Costs. https:// eyeonhousing.org/2025/01/housing-inflation-moderates-amidhigher-energy-costs/ 7. National Association of Realtors® Research Group (2025). 2025 Snapshot of Race and Homebuying in America. https://www. nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/research-reports/snapshotof-race-and-home-buying-in-america; Urban Institute (2019). Reducing the Racial Homeownership Gap. https://www.urban.org/ policy-centers/housing-finance-policy-center/projects/reducingracial-homeownership-gap 8. National Association of Realtors® (2025, Feb. 21). Existing-Home Sales Decreased 4.9% in January, But Increased Year-Over-Year for Fourth Consecutive Month. https://www.nar.realtor/researchand-statistics/housing-statistics/existing-home-sales 9. National Fair Housing Alliance (2026, Feb.). The Trump Administration’s Actions That Are Worsening the Fair and Affordable Housing Crisis. https://nationalfairhousing.org/wpcontent/uploads/2026/02/NFHA_Project-2025-And-AdminActions-Worsening-Fair-Affordable-Housing-Crisis.pdf 10. Shanti Abedin, Laurie Benner, Jameel Khan, et al., (2025, Jun. 25). The State of Equitable Homeownership 2025 Report. National Fair Housing Alliance. https://nationalfairhousing.org/wp-content/ uploads/2023/04/The-State-of-Equitable-Homeownership-2025FINAL.pdf
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