Hello hello,
Welcome to the height of the holiday season! You wouldn’t know it was almost Christmas at my house – no decorations, no gingerbread scent, no snow, nothing. This weekend we need to get after it and bring some holiday cheer to our home.
There’s a trending article from the San Francisco Chronicle about a black couple that ‘erased themselves’ from their home before having their house appraised. After the initial appraisal came back much lower than they expected, they removed all identifying images from their home and had a white friend sit in the home at the time of the second appraisal. Spoiler alert: their white-washed appraisal came back 500K higher than the first. Unfortunately, this is a common outcome of systemic racism. Here’s the article:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Black-Marin-City-couple-sues-appraiser-for-16672840.php
Interestingly, we had our home in San Jose recently appraised, and my husband did the same thing. He removed all the pictures from the walls and any other identifying objects that would disclose anything about our family. He also physically left for work before our appraiser arrived on site. But, I was there. I could stay because my skin color won’t negatively impact the value of my home. How insane is that? It’s so unfair and exhausting that people of color need to a) be aware of the systemic racism in every facet of daily life such as getting a home appraisal and b) constantly take actions to combat the biases.
Clint Smith (author of How the Word Is Passed – one of 2021’s Best Books of the Year, a MUST read!) commented on social media about the SF Chronicle article. He posed a simple yet poignant question – if we see that kind of blatant discrimination in home prices based on race, imagine all the other interactions/contributions from people of color that are undervalued. Contributions at work, in the arts, in schools, everywhere…
#blacklivesmatter #courageousconversations #powertoprivilege
-Jessica