The Myth of Black Property Ownership in the United States

Examining the complexities of Black ownership and ‘what belongs to us’

The Black-White wealth gap in the United States is not a myth, and Black property ownership has often felt like a mirage. Shortly after the end of slavery, one of the ways in which freed Black people exercised their new rights was to acquire land. But as many of us know, the quest for property and wealth in the United States was often met with threats of violence and destruction (see: Seneca Village and Greenwood…