In 1965, the year I was born, so not exactly ancient history, a football star on the Kansas City Chiefs could not find a house to buy in the suburbs of Kansas City. There were plenty of houses for sale, the player made good money, and there wasn’t anything wrong with his credit score.
The problem was he was black.
“Future Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Bell says he looked at more than 200 houses for his family in the mid-1960s, getting denied by realtors and bankers who refused to underwrite his mortgage. Head coach Hank Stram, who was White and lived in a planned suburb in Prairie Village, Kan., made calls on Bell’s behalf to no avail. “You couldn’t do anything,” Bell said. “They didn’t want to take you.”
“players proposed building an integrated apartment complex that featured central air conditioning and a pool shaped like a football. The city council denied the plan over zoning issues”
“Bell eventually bought a house in Prairie Village in 1968, after a White man purchased it and rented to Bell until he could find a willing mortgage underwriter. Shortly after Bell moved in, a White neighbor showed up at his door with a flier organizing a protest against him”
- When my father and in-laws die in the coming years I will inherit over a million dollars worth of real estate. Imagine the effect not being able to get a mortgage for a house has had on generations of black families. It’s a disgrace. And this is why reparations for black families should be explored.
