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2. During the change of owning a home, there were many laws and actions put in place to help people buy and be able to actually afford housing. Except these laws only were in place for white people, they would help the white people get loans and make sure that white people lived in the best neighborhoods and have the best access to whatever the city provided. While for the black people, there were neighborhoods that were restricted from them and they were barely able to get housing and loans from the bank, solely based upon their skin color. “Like the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration initially insisted on restrictive covenants, which helped bar blacks and other ethnic undesirables from receiving federally backed home loans.” is a way Coates describes the way these laws excluded anyone of color. They were specifically made to keep blacks out of neighborhoods and areas where the majority of the residents were white. When a black person did live near a white person or in the same neighborhood, “one man said his black neighbor was ‘probably a nice guy, but every time I look at him I see $2,000 drop off the value of my house.’’’ The white people were being told that living with or near black people would drop the value of their houses. This type of racism was practiced by everyone in white neighborhoods and in the loan distribution offices.
3. In paragraph 7 of section 8 of the essay, Coates talks about how contract sellers will use their power to target black families who were finally making something of themselves, but not enough to own a home with a real loan. Coates says that the black families could be better and richer than some white families but they will not get the same treatment solely based upon skin color. And this idea that black people have to work even harder has been seen with the Obama family, which Coates talked about at the end of the second section. The Obama family had to work harder than ever to get where they are and to give their children the opportunities that they have. But with the Bush family, while they have been successful on their own, were handed everything on a silver platter. They had the privilege of being white and these things that the Obamas struggled to achieve were handed to them easily. The Obama family had to work much harder than most families in politics to reach the level that they have. They were not handed positions of power and money, they had to work for these powers and ideas. But many other families, especially in positions of power in the American government, did not have to work as hard for the opportunities they have been given. And this shows the idea that Coates was talking about in the eight section, that these black families may be amazing and have work toward these goals but in the end the white people and their family are the ones who are truly going to receive the acknowledgement at the end.
4. The idea of reparations has been thrown around for years. The idea to give back something to the people who have been affected by racism throughout the country and time. In our past there were a lot of injustices toward people who were not white and even to this day there are still many injustices that are happening to people of different races. But why have we not done anything about it? Why have we not given reparations to these people who are obviously so deserving of equality? Reparations are something that these people deserve but there are a lot of factors that need to be taken into consideration when trying to give reparations. Not only is the cost going to be very high, but many of the doubters will say, why are we giving them reparations? The ones who were hurt the most by slavery and racism are either very old or dead, so why should we be giving out money to their families, they did not endure what others endured. And this mindset is what is stopping reparations from happening. The idea that the people who are alive now have not gone through these same struggles or that racism is not as bad as everyone says. These ideas and mindsets of the people in charge is what is stopping reparations from happening.
