Wonkbook: A radical idea to compensate black homeowners harmed by racial bias

By Emily Badger Homes in black middle-class neighborhoods, like the one where Natalie Y. Moore grew up on the South Side of Chicago, typically don't gain value over time the same way homes in mostly white middle-class neighborhoods do. The people who live there are penalized for biases built into the housing market. White home …   The latest economic and domestic policy from Wonkblog   By Emily Badger Homes in black middle-class neighborhoods, like the one where Natalie Y. Moore grew up on the South Side of Chicago, typically don't gain value over time the same way homes in mostly white middle-class neighborhoods do. The people who live there are penalized for biases built into the housing market. White home buyers seldom consider neighborhoods with even a modest black population, and so housing demand is much lower in those communities. That drives down prices and muzzles appreciation. It means that homeownership simply isn't as good of a deal in neighborhoods that are even slightly black. Moore, a public radio reporter writing in her new book, "The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation," quotes an idea from Emory University law professor Dorothy Brown on how to partially remedy this: "Why don't we say no one gets a mortgage interest deduction unless they live in an integrated neighborhood?" Brown told her. "We realize you're taking a penalty in the market, and we want to compensate you by lowering your taxes." And Brown's radical proposal to implement the idea: Let's extend the mortgage interest deduction only to homeowners who live in neighborhoods that are at least 10 percent black. Read the rest on Wonkblog.   Chart of the day Alcohol is a factor in many violent crimes, especially homicides involving intimate partners. Max Ehrenfreund has more. 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