How Much Money Has Been Made Off of the Black Home

For the few Blacks who were able to get homes, their homes “may have” risen
in value, but so much of the money surrounding the housing industry was
going to white people who were profiting off of a segregated area.

FHA backed homes in the Houston, Texas area - 1953

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How Much Money Has Been Made Off of the Black Home?

What struck me most about this story is the way in which so many others made money off of Black home ownership.  In November of 1953, The Houston Office of the Federal Housing Administration issued a report to Guy T. O. Hollyday, Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration.

In the report the Houston director outlined what he felt were the problems facing minority housing in Houston, TX.  The Houston director (Keith McCanse) noted that, from 1940 to 1953, the Negro population grew from 100,945 to 163,941 in the Houston area.  He wrote:

“With a population of 160,000,000 the current net annual growth of the United States is 2,700,000 or 1.7%.

With a population of 840,724 the current net annual growth of Houston is 38,300 or 5.2%

Houston’s net growth, therefore, is three times that of the United States.

The impact of this dynamic growth in population has magnified Houston’s housing problems.  The pressure of 75 percent of the problem has been somewhat alleviated by the building of 90,000 home units during the last five years.  But, the pressure on the other 25 percent has become greater and requires priority attention.

The other 25 percent is considered a problem because it is made up of Black and Spanish Americans and the housing industry actively practiced segregation—thus the 90,000 home units that were built in the previous years were for the 75% of the population that weren’t monitories.

The Houston director goes on to state:

“This 25 percent is composed of two minority groups—Spanish American, 5 percent, and Negroes, 20 percent.  Naturally, the Negro group has been and continues to be the most pressing problem and it is to that problem that this study will be principally devoted.

He further states:

“The increase in Houston(’s) Negro population during the last 13 years from 100,945 to 163,941 was reflected in its congested areas which had grown up in the city since its beginning.

In most instances housing conditions were deplorable.  Almost all were rent properties. Many had no sanitary toilet facilities, and they deteriorated through neglect.  The greater the Negro population grew the worse these conditions became and the higher became the rentals.  High land prices and being hemmed in by expanding industrial and commercial concerns prohibited the expansion of these areas. The accompanying photographs are indicative of the conditions which then and do now exist.  The result was an overflow of these areas.  there was a migration to the perimeter of the city which we will examine under phase II.

Many Black people were left with dilapidated housing conditions in the aftermath of the Great Depression and in the years leading up to, during and immediately following (and beyond) World War II.  In Houston, people began to spread outside of the city’s limit.

FHA Backed Homes Houston, Texas 1953

FHA Backed Homes Houston, Texas 1953

Unregulated Developed Homes Houston, Texas 1953

Unregulated Developed Homes Houston, Texas 1953

Business Developer Selling Lots in Houston, Texas circa 1953

Business Developer Selling Lots in Houston, Texas 1953 (FHA Report)

Houston Housing Overcrowding in FHA Report

Houston Housing Overcrowding in FHA Report, 1953

McCanse further wrote:

“The natural result of over-crowding in the center of the city was that the Negro reached out for more room and for better living conditions.  While transportation was a problem, yet he found lots available as low as $5.00 down and $5.00 per month.  It is estimated that from 10,000 to 20,000 of such lots were sold.

All the Negro got was a piece of land probably 50’ x 100’.  Usually a graded “street” was provided, which was a sea of mud unless the developer had found it advisable to give it a topping of shell.  But, there usually were no sewers or water lines.  Gas and electricity came only after a community developed to justify the extensions.  Under such conditions these determined people built their homes, piece by piece, without the benefit of conventional financing and usually without the benefit of any type of financing.  Thousands of such homes are now in existence and photographs of some of these are here shown.

How much money has been made off of the Black home?

When you think about this real-life example, there were developers, landowners, businessmen, etc.—all of whom were most likely white.  For the few Blacks who were able to get homes, their homes “may have” risen in value, but so much of the money surrounding the housing industry was going to white people who were profiting off of a segregated area.

When you think about a more traditional situation, there are real estate agents, insurance companies, banks to finance homes, developers who may also hire other builders, contractors, inspectors and appraisers,…even cleaning agencies that come in and clean a home before it is sold.  Stop and think about it.  Look around your home—everything on the inside of it and the structure itself.  How much of it resulted in money going into the hands of Black people?

——————

Reference:

A Report on Minority Housing in Houston, Texas.  Prepared for Guy T. O. Hollyday, Commissioner, Federal Housing Administration by Keith McCanse, Director, Houston Office, FHA.  November 1953.

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