Plundered
How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America
Bernadette Atuahene
- **"Clear.
- Accessible.
- Compelling."
- —Ibram
- X.
- Kendi,
- MacArthur
- Genius
- fellow
- and
- author
- of
- Stamped
- from
- the
- Beginning
- and
- How
- to
- Be
- an
- AntiracistIn
- the
- spirit
- of
- Evicted,
- a
- property
- law
- scholar
- uses
- the
- stories
- of
- two
- grandfathers—one
- white,
- one
- Black—who
- arrived
- in
- Detroit
- at
- the
- turn
- of
- the
- twentieth
- century
- to
- reveal
- how
- racist
- policies
- weaken
- Black
- families,
- widen
- the
- racial
- wealth
- gap,
- and
- derive
- profit
- from
- pain.**When
- Professor
- Bernadette
- Atuahene
- moved
- to
- Detroit,
- she
- planned
- to
- study
- the
- city’s
- squatting
- phenomenon.
- What
- she
- accidentally
- found
- was
- too
- urgent
- to
- ignore.
- Her
- neighbors,
- many
- of
- whom
- had
- owned
- their
- homes
- for
- decades,
- were
- losing
- them
- to
- property
- tax
- foreclosure,
- leaving
- once
- bustling
- Black
- neighborhoods
- blighted
- with
- vacant
- homes.Through
- years
- of
- dogged
- investigation
- and
- research,
- Atuahene
- uncovered
- a
- system
- of
- predatory
- governance,
- where
- public
- officials
- raise
- public
- dollars
- through
- laws
- and
- processes
- that
- produce
- or
- sustain
- racial
- inequity—a
- nationwide
- practice
- in
- no
- way
- limited
- to
- Detroit.In
- this
- powerful
- work
- of
- scholarship
- and
- storytelling,
- Atuahene
- shows
- how
- predatory
- governance
- invites
- complicity
- from
- well-meaning
- people,
- eviscerates
- communities,
- and
- widens
- the
- racial
- wealth
- gap.
- Using
- a
- multigenerational
- narrative,
- Atuahene
- tells
- a
- riveting
- tale
- about
- racist
- policies,
- how
- they
- take
- root,
- why
- they
- flourish,
- and
- who profits.
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