Comedian D.L. Hughley got candid about the effects of racism and a personal experience of his dealing with devaluation of assets in Black neighborhoods.
Hughley discussed a recent report by the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank on the impact of bias on Black homeowners.
Brookings found that prominent Black neighborhoods hold $609 billion in owner-occupied housing assets. However, after researching the average metropolitan area in the United States, it discovered that houses in neighborhoods where the share of the population is 50 percent Black “are valued at roughly half the price as homes in neighborhoods with no Black residents.”
(photo credit: D.L. Show/Facebook screenshot)
The “Kings of Comedy” star pointed out how historically there were very few neighborhoods built for Black folks to move into. So when they moved into a predominantly white neighborhood the property value of the area went down based on white people’s perceptions of Blacks.
“In my own instance I was getting ready to sell the house, someone came out to give us an appraisal on the house and the realtor told me to take my pictures down,” said Hughley. “Because if they saw a Black person [living there] they would devalue the home.”
He continued, “I did not believe that, and sure enough they came and gave me an estimate that was so low it would’ve had to been a foreclosure. A three-year-old home that I just remodeled that took $125,000 [of renovations.].”
The television personality went on to say that the properties with Black homeowners consistently are devalued.
“Their perception of you is costing you and your family wealth and livelihood. It’s not somebody calling you nigger or refusing you at a store. … They’re taking a piece of the American dream away from you just because.”
Watch Hughley discuss the devaluation of assets in Black neighborhoods:
https://www.facebook.com/RealDLHughley/videos/2158616771135076/
