by CFP Staff
For African Americans, Political Ownership Can Be More Consequential than Home Ownership.
In the United States, the typical homeowner’s net worth is approximately $254,000, while that of the typical renter is about $6,000. Research has also shown that home ownership is associated with greater civic engagement through higher participation in social groups and that homeowners are 2.5 percent more likely to have good health. These findings illustrate but a few of the widely recognized advantages of home ownership: decision-making control, greater power/influence, stability, better health, and wealth-building opportunities. However, these advantages are true not only of the housing market, but of politics as well. The adverse economic and social impacts of low home ownership rates in the black community have been well-documented. But just as important, and arguably even more consequential, is that blacks in America have been hindered by a lack of political ownership.
When it comes to politics in America, up to this point, African Americans have been leasing our space within the political system. In other words, we have resided within the confines of political structures designed and built by others for their profit and benefit, rather than structures designed and built by the black community for our profit and benefit. Moreover, for the past several decades, African Americans have been protesting and advocating for ownership advantages (i.e., decision-making control in their neighborhoods, greater power/influence, community wealth) while remaining lessees within the political system. But the only way to reap the advantages of ownership is to become an owner; this step in the process cannot be avoided. The tremendous importance of assuming political ownership in the black community becomes more evident when we consider more closely the parallels between the benefits of home ownership and political ownership.
Equity/Wealth-Building
As mentioned above, one of the major benefits of home ownership is the opportunity to build equity or wealth. A homeowner’s equity grows as mortgage payments are made. Consequently, when homeowners hand over their money as a mortgage payment, that money is not really lost to them, but is turned into something that can benefit them and their families in the future: equity. In contrast, when a lessee hands over a payment to a landlord or lessor, that money can no longer benefit them (other than secure their short-term housing needs) and is lost; instead, the money is used by the lessor to increase their economic well-being.
Politics operates in a similar fashion. The “payment” of politics is votes. When a group is an owner in the political system, like a home owner, its payments or votes will not be lost but will be turned into something that will benefit them in the future. When a group is a lessee in the political system, such payments will ultimately be lost to them and will be used to benefit others.
Let us consider the situation of African Americans in the city of Chicago, whose situation closely mirrors that of African-Americans in many other municipalities around the United States. In return for their “payments”, African-Americans in Chicago have the lowest life expectancy, earn the lowest median income, live in neighborhoods that receive three times less investment than other neighborhoods in the city, and attend schools with a higher probability of closure than other schools with comparable test scores, locations and utilization rates. In other words, the “payments” or votes of African Americans in Chicago are lost to them and used for the benefit of others. No one who is exposed to the disparities between the North Side of Chicago and the West and South sides of the city can deny this. The best way for African Americans to reverse this situation in Chicago, as well as in other municipalities, is to move from political leasing to political ownership so that their payments are turned into equity for their neighborhoods in the form of safe streets, access to clean air and water, fully resourced schools, and proper economic investment in their communities.
Greater Control
Another advantage of home ownership is greater control over one’s living space. When one is a homeowner, that person can modify their living space as they see fit in ways that best serve their interests. When one is a renter or lessee, one has little to no control over their living environment, including renovations or improvements made. When one is a renter, their only recourse to unwanted actions is to complain and hope for the best.
The same is true in politics. For far too long, African Americans have had no real control in our living spaces and have had to subject ourselves to complaining and hoping for the best when political or economic changes are imposed on our communities from external sources without our full knowledge or consent.
Consider, for example, a recent occurrence in Chatham, a neighborhood area in Chicago that is approximately 95% African-American. Chicago approved a $5 million car wash in Chatham despite there already being five car washes within a quarter-mile of the location and petitions and protests from local residents with requests for a sit-down restaurant instead. According to one resident protesting the car wash approval, “The community is angry that we’re not being heard. It’s like we fell on deaf ears.”
The situation in Chatham, and others like it around the country, is but a natural consequence
when a group within a political system does not seek or has not achieved genuine ownership
within that system. In order to move from complaining to control, the black community must
transition from leasing in America’s political system to ownership.
Long-term Stability
Homeowners are four times less likely to move in a given year compared to renters. According to one study, communities that have residents settled in for the long haul often have stronger social ties, civic engagement, and social capital.
If African Americans were owners in America’s political system, one would expect that their
living situations would demonstrate a relatively high degree of stability and that their
neighborhoods would, as a consequence, reap the benefits of stronger social ties, civic
engagement and social capital. However, this is not the case. Between 2010 and 2020, Chicago’s black population fell by nearly 10 percent. Similarly, in 1990, African Americans were approximately 70% of the population of Atlanta and are now close to 50%, while their share of the population of Oakland has declined from about 43% to nearly 23% over the same period.
As one public official in Cook County, Illinois, remarked, “Black people aren’t leaving Chicago. Failed policies are forcing them out.” This is true in other areas of the United States, from Inglewood to Atlanta, and from New Orleans to New York City.
The black community’s current methods of operating within America’s political system has not achieved – and likely cannot achieve – long-term stability for its members. When a group does not build and control its own political structures and then use them honestly and effectively, other groups or forces will be the ultimate determiners of where and how they live.
In order to move from complaining to control, the black community must transition from leasing in America's political system to ownership.
Conclusion
Like home ownership, there are not only advantages but also costs associated with political
ownership. Homeowners are often required to provide a down payment on the home, not to
mention high closing fees. Political ownership for the black community will similarly require
“costs” in the form of a sizeable investment of time, energy, resources, and talent. However, we at the Community Freedom Party believe these costs are far outweighed by the advantages of political ownership: wealth-building in our neighborhoods, greater control in our communities, and long-term stability for our families. Achieving political ownership is going to require a high degree of understanding and trust: understanding that African Americans have for far too long been dependent on political structures that were not built by us or for our benefit and trust that we have the capacity and talent to build new political structures that will mature and ultimately benefit the black community and benefit the United States as well.
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