Why black Americans are trapped in poverty: Weekend Edition

Black Poverty Is Rooted in Real-Estate Exploitation – Mark Whitehouse One question is — or should be — central to any assessment of the state of America: Why, more than a century and a half after slavery ended, does the typical black family remain so much poorer than the typical white family? A new study on housing in Chicago illustrates a big part of the answer: Generation after generation, the U.S. system of real-estate finance has enriched whites at the expense of blacks. Housing has long played a crucial role in American wealth accumulation: People buy homes with federally subsidized mortgages, build up equity and pass the assets on to their children. But as recently as the 1960s, government policy excluded blacks. In a practice known as redlining, the Federal Housing Administration designated predominantly black neighborhoods as no-go zones for government-insured mortgage loans. The FHA also wouldn't guarantee loans for new mixed-race developments: The presence of even a single black family was enough to warrant rejection. Read the whole thing. How to Invest and Profit in the Next Recession – Barry Ritholtz Facebook's Answer to Bitcoin Poses a Double Threat – Lionel Laurent Why This Time Was Different for Hong Kong – Nisha Gopalan and Matthew Brooker Trump Doesn't Need to Attack Iran: He's Winning Already – Bobby Ghosh Why Is Running on the Decline? – Leonid Bershidsky Trump's Orlando Rally Shows He's Running Out of New Tricks – Timothy L. O'Brien China's Slowdown Is Fraying Nerves – Adam Minter What Have Trump's Rallies Accomplished? – Jonathan Bernstein Facebook Will Make the Money Now – Matt Levine Saturday New Movies Need to find an air-conditioned distraction for the kiddos this weekend? The highly anticipated "Toy Story 4" is in theaters now. And if horror is more your bag, check out Aubrey Plaza in a revamp of "Child's Play." This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the 10 most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion published this week, based on web readership, with some other stuff thrown in. FOLLOW US SEND TO A FRIEND You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022