The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - If You Don't Know, Now You Know - Racism in Housing

Episode Date: December 7, 2020

Trevor dives into the long and ongoing history of discrimination against African Americans seeking housing, and Leo Deblin (Roy Wood Jr.) offers an opportunistic solution. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News.

Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17. Everyone knows the damage the coronavirus can do to your body. It can destroy your lungs. It can injure your kidneys. Hell, it can even take down your presidency. But it turns out the pandemic isn't just harming our bodies, it's also harming our homes. Are we headed for another mortgage crisis? The slow-motion disaster in America's neighborhoods. With more than 21 million

Americans out of work, more and more homeowners are struggling to pay their mortgage? We've seen a big spike in the number of delinquent homeowners since the pandemic began. Right now, 6.6% of all mortgages are in some stage of delinquency. That's 3.3 million American homes, nearly doubling in just nine months. If we don't put money in people's pockets, if we don't extend a moratorium on evictions and mortgage foreclosures, we're going to be seeing millions of people who are homeless in the middle of winter when disease is rampant. We're going to see people who are being forced to go to work even if they're sick because

they need to put food on the table and pay rent. And that is unconscionable. Wow, guys. 3.3 million American homes is an insane number. That's like if everybody in Jamaica was suddenly homeless. I mean, they'd probably be chilled about it because they have so much great weed and great weather, but still, it would be very inconvenient. It's truly amazing that the American government, the most powerful nation in the world,

has failed its people so badly. I mean, it almost feels like they tried to one up the damage Corona was doing. I'm going to cause a massive public health crisis. Well, then we're going to cause a massive economic and housing crisis. Damn, you guys are cold. But while the pandemic is causing millions to face a mortgage crisis for the first time, housing instability is nothing new for black people. In fact, it's something African Americans have been dealing with long before the coronavirus. So let's find out why, in another installment of, if you don't know, now you know. It's no secret that white people have had an easier time getting ahead in America.

But one of the most important reasons for this might surprise. It's no secret that white people have had an easier time getting ahead in America. But one of the most important reasons for this might surprise you. For millions owning a home remains at the heart of the American dream, but many black Americans have been left out. A new report says just 44% of black families own a home compared to 74% for whites. Owning a home is the way that most people develop wealth. It is the way that for years and years and years, people have been able to pass something on to their children or pay for their education.

It's part of the reason the average white family has about 10 times the median wealth of a black family. The gap between white and black homeowners is greater now than it was since before the Fair Housing Act of 1968 when segregation was legal. That's right. The home ownership gap is worse for black people now than it was in segregation, which is insane. I never thought a black guy could be able to say, ah, Jim Crow, those were the good old days.

But it makes sense when you realize how owning real estate helps you build wealth. And that wealth becomes generational, because home ownership is one of the surest ways for families to pass down wealth. Not beanie babies, grandma. But they're still very cute, save them for me. But also, like, think about a portfolio. So, black Americans have had less wealth than white Americans for decades, and large part of that was because they couldn't build wealth by owning a home.

But why? Why couldn't they own homes at the same rates as white Americans? Well, like most things dealing with racial inequality, it starts with the government. During the New Deal, the Homeowners Loan Corporation refinanced more than a million loans, nearly one out of every five mortgages in urban America. Now the main problem with the homeowners loan corporation was redlining. All of that wonderful government finance was only available to white people. The homeowners loan corporation essentially deemed black people too risky to loan.

The H-O-L-C created residential security maps where the term redlining comes from. Green meant best area, best people, a, a, a, a thii-a' the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now, now. Now, now. Now, now. Now, now. Now, now. Now, now. Now, the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the home their their the home the home their the home their the home their the home the home the home the home the home the home the homeowner the homeowner's the home the homeowner's the home the home the home the home the home the home the home the long. The H-O-L-C created residential security maps, where the term redlining comes from. Green meant best area, best people, aka a businessman. Blue meant good people like white collar families, yellow meant a declining area with working class families, and red meant detrimental influences, most significantly, negroes. Saying that neighborhoods were hazardous to lend in because they were, quote unquote,

infiltrated by Negroes or threatened with Negro encroachment. Man, what a terrible era. When the phrase infiltrated by Negroes could be a term used by the federal government, when it should only be used for a dope-ass Migos album. I mean, seriously, do you know how fucked up it is to describe those neighborhoods as infiltrated by Negroes? That's where black people lived. But they made it sound like black people were breaking and entering into their own houses.

Oh, shit, I'm in. Oh, it's my house. What am I doing? Although I won't lie. A part of me, actually misses how up front racism was back in the days. You didn't have to read between the lines, you know? Because if you're black now and you're trying to get a loan, they'll be like, well, we take a variety of factors into account in the loan approval process. Back then, if a black person walked into a bank, the manager was just like, look at a negro, the boat! Come on, yo! Now, by the late 1960s, courts ruled that redlining was illegal. But there are more subtle ways that black people are still kept from purchasing houses.

For example, real estate agents who are just really trying to keep neighborhoods just white. Newsday with an undercover project to see whether real estate agents tenets who are black any differently than prospective tenants who were white and they did a lot. The risks to African-Americans in particular of suffering potential discrimination was about 50-50. I've had agents invoke burning crosses to dissuade me from buying a home in certain areas. This news day footage shows an agent handling one tester who is black and wants to see a house without a pre-qualification letter.

I want to eat, you can try another person, but I don't have the time to have that. But for the white buyer, also with no letter? She shows that buyer, too. In other cases, Newsday records agents who appear to be steering minorities towards mixed communities. Every time I get a new list in Broward or new client, I get so excited because they're nice people. But with a white buyer, the same agent texting him about recent gang killings there.

Whoofeas, those real estate agents got caught. I'd love to hear their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th. th. thi, thia, th. the, the, th. tooes, tooes, to be, to be, to be, to tooes, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. thean. thean. thean, thean, thean, thean, tooooooooooooooooooooooo. toe, toe. t. Phew. Those real estate agents got caught. I'd love to hear their feeble excuses afterwards. No, no, no, when I told one buyer the neighbors were nice people and the other one were gang killers, just jobs. And by the way, invoking burning crosses to try and stop a black person from moving into a neighborhood is not only racist, it's overkill. If you want to stop a black person from moving into a home, all you gotta do is tell them that their next door neighbor

adds raisins to their potato salad. They're out. And the truth is that even though redlining was outlawed as a matter of official policy, it sure looks like the banks are still doing it anyway. Lenders deny mortgages for black applications. at a rate 80% higher than that of white applicants. When we do get loans or at much higher interest rates or much worse conditions. If you're African-American making more than $100,000, you were more likely to be put into a subprime loan than if you were a white person making less than $35,000.

Consequently, black and brown families were disproportionately impacted by the 2007, 2010 housing crisis, being nearly twice as likely as white families to lose their homes. After controlling for education, crime, walkability, homes in black neighborhoods are devalued by 23% and accumulatively, that's about 156 billion in lost equity. One couple in Florida actually saw their appraisal increased by 40% after they removed any evidence that a black woman lived there. I took down the family pictures that we had in the home and you know

basically any markers that there were African-Americans living in the house. Replacing them only with photos of her husband and his white family. When the second appraisal comes back, the value of their house? Shut up more than $100,000. Think about that. Her home appraisal went up $100,000. A hundred thousand dollars. Getting rid of her family photos did more for her home value than putting in a swimming pool. And again, can we all agree that this is racist? Yeah? Because just having pictures of black family members

shouldn't drive down the value of a house. Just because you have pictures of black people? I mean, unless that black person is archelie. And then it's like, I don't care that the basement is spacious. I know what was happening in there. So when it comes to racial discrimination in housing, America has come a long way and there's still a long way to go. But until the government gets serious about racial discrimination and mortgage lending and home selling, well, Leo Deblen has got you covered.

Are you trying to sell your home but can't get a good price? Because you black, you're trying to get a new house. But these real estate agents are keeping you in the pool house. Well pack that moving van. Because Leo's got a plan. Introducing Leo Deblin's home whitification. I'll make your house look so white. They'll think West Anderson live in this bitch.

I throw out all your family photos and replace them with watercolors of boats. I'll even throw in a diploma from Dartmouth. Art History. Oof, you know that's white. Your library is gonna get white-of-fire too, with David Sederis, The Life of Pie, and of course, how to be anti-racist by Ebrax Kendi. Oh, that's white hot.

And nothing says white like adding exposed brick. Man, that's rustic as hell. I'll even whiteify your garage. Swap out that 2005 Honda Civic for a kayak, a pair of skis, and a volleyball net that only got used once. Whoa, looking like a LL bean catalog in this bitch. And if you order now, I'll whiterfy your music collection. Goodbye, Megan, Nostalian. Hello, Barbara the Strysand. Leo Devlin home whitification. It ain't but $85. You can get that from your

mama. an institute of barber-fair. Real-combe qualification, an institute-up-o-barber-friend. Exit 120 by the Fairgrounds. Next to Footlocker. The Daily Show with Cover the the theail show weeknights at 11. Ten Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more.

When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling? But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.

I'm Seth Done of CBS News. to 60 minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast.