Colorlines' Imara Jones hopes that someone is paying attention to a recent report on how to fix the policy mess's impact on communities of color.
Despite recent headlines trumpeting a return of America's real estate market to its boom-time highs, a report released today by the Alliance for a Just Society shows how little of that has trickled into communities of color. The document, entitled "Wasted Wealth," is a sobering reminder of the gap between top-line economic cheerleading and the reality of what's happening on the ground.
As "Wasted Wealth" lays out, close to 2.5 million families lost homes in just three years. Communities that were majority people of color saw foreclosures take place at almost twice the rate as white communities, with an average loss of wealth 30 percent higher per household.
This foreclosure tidal wave is why wealth for blacks and Latinos is at the lowest level ever recorded. Housing is the leading wealth asset for these two communities.
Read Imara Jones' entire piece at Colorlines.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.