McCaughey: Kamala’s housing reparations

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris is promising to provide “first-time homebuyers with $25,000 to cover the down payment.” Her promise is proving popular. Eighty percent of Democrats and even 20% of Republicans favor it, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. But the devil is in the details, and the media are not asking any questions. The biggest question is whether Harris, as president, would help all first-time homebuyers, regardless of their race, or target the help to achieve racial equity, as her past actions suggest. Harris has a long track record promising $25,000 in down payment help, but her goal was never to help all first-time homebuyers. In 2019, as a U.S. senator, Harris insisted the goal was to close the homeownership gap between Black and white families. She said then, “We must right the wrong and — after generations of discrimination — and give Black families a real shot at home ownership.” #placement_588479_0_i{width:100%;margin:0 auto;} Her $25,000 down payment promise was limited to “first-generation homebuyers.” Why limit the help to buyers whose parents never owned a home? To ensure that most of the help goes to minority homebuyers. Only 44% of Black families own their homes, compared with 73% of white...