SEATTLE — Systemic racism created barriers for Black and BIPOC families to become homeowners. Nearly a century later, several challenges remain.
"We grew up putting pickets on banks, you know literally banks and bankers' homes to amplify the injustice of redlining and just to expose it," Dana said."We were refused." "He got to Seattle and when he saw Mount Rainier and the Olympics and Lake Washington, he just thought he was in God's country," Dana said. For 15 years, Dana said her parents purchased at least one piece of property every year.
"Starting from zero, just working our way up," Theresa said."To build this and to pass it on to the children is just amazing."Theresa Frank, co-founder of Frank Family Properties, stands outside one of the family's first Seattle that was purchased in the 1950's and 1960's."I wouldn't be sitting here without their knowledge and their hard work," Brett said."The impact that my grandparents started so long ago.
Four main components contribute to King County's Black homeownership drop-off, according to Crowder: declining affordability, household income disparity, lack of intergenerational wealth and limited access to credit. Providing grants toward a home purchase versus a loan would be life-changing for Black families in Western Washington, according to Bascomb."Daddy always wanted to renovate properties so Black people could live with dignity," said Dana Frank.