HomeFirst (Nicole Prewitt)

Kanopy provides streaming access to a huge catalog of documentaries and feature films from all over the world. This link will take you to the section on race and class, where you'll find many documentaries on housing and wealth inequality in different areas of the U.S. Explore more films by topic in the "Browse" menu.

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Virginia law once defined a black person as someone with 1/16th African ancestry; in Florida, it was 1/8th African ancestry. If you can cross a state line and literally, legally change race, what does race really mean? This program argues that the idea of race was developed and reinforced through politics, economics, and culture. Real estate practices as well as federal regulations kept new neighborhoods segregated after World War II, and it was the white families awarded mortgages whose assets accumulated, creating a legacy of opportunity for their children and grandchildren. With the starting line for the next generation drawn at different points on the field, the racial divide could only grow larger.

Free streaming video at the link.
‘Segregated By Design’ examines the forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy.

In season 1, episode 1, Cory Booker and others discuss how slavery, housing discrimination and centuries of inequality have compounded to create a racial wealth gap.

Segment from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, written by Kevin Avery et al., directed by Joe Perota. HBO, August 10, 2014

12 million Americans take out payday loans every year, but there are still misconceptions about how they are actually used. In this 2 minute video from PEW Charitable Trusts, follow the story of Jennifer, a typical payday loan customer, who takes out a cash advance on her paycheck to make ends meet, but ends up paying more than $500 in fees.

When Clyde Ross, Mattie Lewis, and Ethel Weatherspoon settled in the West-side neighborhood of North Lawndale, they hoped to achieve the American dream of owning a home. At the time, however, federal policies known as redlining prevented blacks from getting real mortgages, forcing them to buy from real-estate speculators "on contract." The contracts, homeowners soon discovered, turned out to be a scam. In this short documentary, Ross, Lewis, Weatherspoon, and a community organizer named Jack Macnamara recount the story of how they formed the Contract Buyers League and fought back. Video by The Atlantic.

We love to share great radio, even if we didn’t make it. Today, On the Media’s Brooke Gladstone tells Jad and Robert about a mammoth project they launched to take a critical look at the tales we tell ourselves when we talk about poverty.

We have an eviction epidemic in this country. We’ve had one for a long time. And in this new four-part series from On the Media, host Brooke Gladstone will seek out the why and the wherefore — in search, ultimately, of a cure.

No city better exemplifies the trend [of modern redlining] than Philadelphia, where so-called up-and-coming neighborhoods abound – and where African American applicants were nearly three times as likely as whites to be denied a home loan. That’s where reporters Aaron Glantz and Emmanuel Martinez tell the story of two loan applicants – one black, one white – whose experiences raise larger questions about who gets to buy a home, and who doesn’t, in America.

Where you live is important. It can dictate quality of schools and hospitals, as well as things like cancer rates, unemployment, or whether the city repairs roads in your neighborhood. On this week's show, stories about destiny by address.