community_revitalization

In Memphis, as in America, the benefits of homeownership have not accrued equally across race.

Housing policy in the United States has leaned heavily on homeownership as a driver of household wealth since the middle of the last century, and, for many white Americans, property ownership has indeed yielded significant wealth. But Black families have largely been left behind, either unable to buy in the first place or hampered by risks that come with owning property.

Homeownership’s limitations are especially apparent in Black neighborhoods. Owner-occupied homes in predominantly African American neighborhoods are worth, on average, half as much as those in neighborhoods with no Black residents, according to a 2018 Brookings Institution and Gallup report that examined metropolitan areas.

For neighborhoods like Orange Mound in southeast Memphis, the solutions cannot come fast enough.

This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

In the 1950s and ’60s, the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the United States, was a vibrant community.

But the construction of the Claiborne Expressway in the 1960s gutted the area.

The Biden administration has said that the trillion-dollar infrastructure package will address such historical wrongs.

How might that be achieved?

Guest: Audra D.S. Burch, a national correspondent for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Generations of New Orleans residents have dreamed of the day when the Claiborne Expressway might be removed. President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package could eventually make that possible.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.