The mother says she bought the house in the white area because the homes in the black areas were too expensive. She said she could get a nicer home in the white neighborhood.
I would think that the houses in the white areas would cost more money?
Can anyone explain this?
lol that's what i didnt understand either. how can the houses in the black neighborhoods be more expensive than the white ones?? I think she was just making excuses, so she wouldn't have to flat out say she wants to live in the white neighborhood.
"If we can only catch him, Death is dead!" -Cantebury Tales
Probably, the white owner of the house, or the real estate company, wanted to sell it as fast as possible. Most likely, they quoted a price to Mrs. Younger that WAS cheaper than houses in black areas. But they weren't doing her a favor. Whoever sold it would have to know what an uproar it would cause. Remember, we never see what happens after the family moves in...
"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"
Here's how it worked:
Residential property in minority neighborhoods was owned by whites and rented to visible minorities (white immigrants were just considered white). When it came time to sell a property, realtors in these areas knew (or if they didn't know, they were told) that if a minority expressed interest, the price was to be ratcheted up and up until they backed off. If a white buyer came along AND wanted to rent the property out (not live in it, that was not okay either), then it was sold to them super cheap (most of those places were dumps). Minorities ended up believing that property in their neighborhoods was extremely expensive to buy, but it was only expensive for them. The idea in the minority neighborhoods was to keep the minorities renting, not owning, certainly not managing. The white power structure was very real and it did everything possible to keep minorities segregated and powerless.
In the white neighborhoods, prices were always low because the prevailing attitude was that white people were supposed to own their homes and that it shouldn't be difficult for them to do so. Minorities were pointedly encouraged to keep to their own communities. In this case, it wouldn't be about making it too expensive for them, it was simply out of the question. The mother in this film would never have been shown that house, nor would she have been quoted any price, let alone a low one. In the unlikely case where a minority bought property in a white neighborhood - via a white third party or through an inexperienced or desperate realtor - there would have been no 'buyout pitch'. People who lived in neighborhoods like the one in that movie didn't buy people off...the old woman was right. They threatened, and they stood behind those threats. If push came to shove, they'd torch the house, with or without you in it.
Bottom line, prices were what the owners said they were. You had to ask the realtor how much a property cost, and different people got different answers.
Here's how it worked:
Residential property in minority neighborhoods was owned by whites and rented to visible minorities (white immigrants were just considered white). When it came time to sell a property, realtors in these areas knew (or if they didn't know, they were told) that if a minority expressed interest, the price was to be ratcheted up and up until they backed off. If a white buyer came along AND wanted to rent the property out (not live in it, that was not okay either), then it was sold to them super cheap (most of those places were dumps). Minorities ended up believing that property in their neighborhoods was extremely expensive to buy, but it was only expensive for them. The idea in the minority neighborhoods was to keep the minorities renting, not owning, certainly not managing. The white power structure was very real and it did everything possible to keep minorities segregated and powerless.
In the white neighborhoods, prices were always low because the prevailing attitude was that white people were supposed to own their homes and that it shouldn't be difficult for them to do so. Minorities were pointedly encouraged to keep to their own communities. In this case, it wouldn't be about making it too expensive for them, it was simply out of the question. The mother in this film would never have been shown that house, nor would she have been quoted any price, let alone a low one. In the unlikely case where a minority bought property in a white neighborhood - via a white third party or through an inexperienced or desperate realtor - there would have been no 'buyout pitch'. People who lived in neighborhoods like the one in that movie didn't buy people off...the old woman was right. They threatened, and they stood behind those threats. If push came to shove, they'd torch the house, with or without you in it.
Bottom line, prices were what the owners said they were. You had to ask the realtor how much a property cost, and different people got different answers.
Oh, boy, can I ever explain this? It is customary for the venders in black neighborhoods to jack up the prices because the poor can't get around to see what's actually out there as competition. So they take advantage every chance they get. Growing up in Alabama, you know the truth of this regarding real estate, food and all merchandise.
"He who swaps his liberty for the promise of 'security' deserves neither." Ben Franklin
Its called Red Lining
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/05/the-case-for-repar ations/361631/