The homeownership gap : how the post-world War II GI bill shaped modern day homeownership patterns for black and white Americans

Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the GI Bill, was a transformative piece of legislation signed by President Roosevelt intended to help WWII Veterans transition successfully from soldier to citizen. Often dubbed the magic carpet to the middle class, provisions of the bill granted eligible veterans free college tuition, job training and placement, generous unemployment benefits and a low interest, no money down loan for a home or business. The effects of this bill were widespread; it touched eight out of ten men born in the 1920's. Much is known of impact GI Bill benefits had on white veterans, but less is known of how black veterans, who accounted for one in thirteen WWII Veterans, were able to use them. This paper examines barriers black veterans faced to access and use the housing benefit, and examines the possible intergenerational impacts such barriers had on the wealth and homeownership status of African Americans today.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• McKenna, Cyd

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• J. Phil Thompson.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44333

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/44333