Grasping for the American Dream: Racial Segregation, Social Mobility, and Homeownership

Description

African American homebuyers continue to pay more for and get less from homeownership. This book explains the motivations for pursuing homeownership amongst working-class African Americans despite the structural conditions that make it less economically and socially rewarding for this group. Fervent adherence to the American Dream ideology amongst working-class African Americans makes them more vulnerable to exploitation in a structurally racist housing market. The book draws on qualitative interviews with sixty-eight African American aspiring homebuyers looking to buy a home in the Chicago metropolitan area to investigate the housing-search process and residential relocation decisions in the context of a racially segregated metropolitan region. Working-class African Americans remained committed to homeownership, in part because of the moral status attached to achieving this goal. For African American homebuyers, success at the American Dream of homeownership is directly related to the long-standing dream of equality. For the aspiring homebuyers in this study, delayed homeownership was a practical problem for the same reasons, but they also experienced this as a personal failing, due to the strong cultural expectation in the United States that homeownership is a milestone that middle-class adults must achieve. Furthermore, despite using perfectly reasonable housing search strategies to locate homes in stable or improving racially integrated neighborhoods, the structure of racial segregation limits their agency in housing choices. Ultimately, policy solutions will need to address structural racism broadly and be attuned to the needs of both homeowners and renters. Cover Endorsement Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments 1 Tiffany’s Story Beyond Preferences, Discrimination, and Socioeconomic Disparities Foreclosure Crisis The Study The Racial Map of Chicagoland Outline of the Book Note References 2 The African American Dream of Homeownership What Does the American Dream Mean for African Americans? Why Buy a Home? The Social Significance of Homeownership Marker of Adulthood Control Racial Uplift Conclusion References 3 Homeownership Delayed Traditional Life Cycle and Residential Mobility Traditional Life Course Stages and Housing Needs Delay in Homebuying Credit Histories and Delayed Homebuying Decoupling School and Home Choice Multigenerational Families and Residential Relocation The Housing Needs of Diverse Household Forms Multigenerational Households As a Resource Complexities of Relocating Multigenerational Households Conclusion References 4 Searching for a Dream Home Ideal Neighborhood Qualities What Determines the Choice Set Second-Order Neighborhood Filtering With Search Heuristics Avoiding Decline Searching for Improvement Searching for Stability Conclusion Notes References 5 Foreclosure Mash Unit Dispersed Public Housing Homebuyer Assistance Programs Conclusion Notes References 6 Precarious Destinations Gentrification Aspirations and Realities Stability Aspirations and Realities Satisfaction With Location of New Home Leaving the Region Deciding Not to Buy Still Struggling Credit School Loans Taxes Conclusion References 7 Concluding Discussion Housing Policy to Further Integration Pro-Integrative Policy Programs Assets Policy Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Considering Renters and Homebuyers Reparations Notes References Methodological Appendix References Index