Jacob Snow - Snow Realty

Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday.

There is still progress to be made. Systemic racism exists within education, housing, employment, criminal justice, voting, wealth/income, and healthcare. The evidence for modern individual and systemic racism is overwhelming with both past and current legislative efforts significantly effecting communities today. It is to a great degree objective and can be statistically measured. All it requires is a bigoted individual in a position of authority/influence. This could be a law enforcement officer, judge, politician, lender, appraiser, employer, landlord, educator, doctor, etc.

African Americans are nearly 3x more likely to be killed by the police than white people. They are 1.3x more likely to be unarmed. African Americans are 5x more likely to be stopped by law enforcement without cause and serve on average 13-20% longer prison sentences despite consistent crime rates as white people. They are 7.5x more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than white people. 1/3 black children are in poverty as a direct result of decades of systemic, racially charged policy and black children in the criminal justice system are 18x more likely to be sentenced as adults compared to white children. Prosecutors are 1.75x more likely to file charges on black American's that require mandatory minimums. African Americans are searched more than white Americans and police statistically require less suspicion to search black drivers. African Americans are 3.6x more likely to be arrested for ma*****na usage, despite virtually equal usage rates and are twice as likely to be incarcerated while awaiting trial and pay money for bail. African Americans pay higher bail than white Americans convicted of the same crime and as a result of increased felony incarceration, 1 in 13 African American men are disenfranchised and are unable to vote.

98.3% of killings by police from 2013-2020 have not resulted in officers being charged with a crime, a direct consequence of qualified immunity. Nationwide we have spent more than $3 billion to settle misconduct lawsuits over the past 10 years.

Black communities are over policed with unqualified and inadequately trained officers.

Officers are not trained to de-escalate.

A study conducted by Arizona State University regarding effects of a criminal record on prospects for employment found:

-Both African American and Hispanic men were less likely to receive a positive response from employers—including a call back or email for an interview or a job offer—compared with white men.

-White men with a criminal record had more positive responses than black men with no criminal record.

There is overwhelming statistical evidence indicating black individuals end up having to work twice as hard as white people, for often half the results.

An example through housing would be the disparity between black and white median wealth. Without the knowledge of redlining or how in the 1940-50s the FHA denied African Americans home loans we wouldn’t be able to explain why the median white family wealth sits at around $147,000 while the median black family wealth is approximately $3,600 today. Homes purchased for under $20,000 then are worth well over $500,000 now. The areas where banks eventually began to lend to minorities were historically absent from public investment, development, and opportunity leading to statistically higher rates in crime.

A Brookings Institution study from 2018 reported that homes in majority-Black neighborhoods are likely to be valued for on average 23% less than a near identical home in a white majority neighborhood.

Owner-occupied homes in Black neighborhoods are undervalued by $48,000 per home on average, amounting to $156 billion in cumulative losses.

In analyzing the devaluation of Black homeownership, the report found:

-Majority-Black neighborhoods hold $609 billion in owner-occupied housing assets and are home to approximately 10,000 public schools and over 3 million businesses. They found that in the average U.S. metropolitan area, homes in neighborhoods where the share of the population is 50 percent Black are valued at roughly half the price as homes in neighborhoods with no Black residents.

-According to their analysis, differences in home and neighborhood quality do not fully explain the devaluation of homes in Black neighborhoods. Homes of similar quality in neighborhoods with similar amenities are worth 23 percent less ($48,000 per home on average, amounting to $156 billion in cumulative losses) in majority Black neighborhoods, compared to those with very few or no Black residents.

-Metropolitan areas with greater devaluation of Black neighborhoods are more segregated and produce less upward mobility for the Black children who grow up in those communities. This analysis finds a positive and statistically significant correlation between the devaluation of homes in Black neighborhoods and upward mobility of Black children in metropolitan areas with majority Black neighborhoods.

Republicans have introduced 440 bills to restrict voting rights in at least 47 states since the last election designed to make it harder for people to vote. These bills target the young, the poor, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and those who reside in densely populated regions (predominantly democrats). According to Ari Berman, a senior reporter and political analyst for multiple notable publications, 19 states have passed 34 new laws making it harder to vote, 17 states have passed 32 new laws undermining fair elections, 163 GOP candidates are running for election positions predicated upon the Big Lie, and maps have been gerrymandered in TX, NC, OH, GA, WI giving the GOP 65-80% of the available seats. Laws proposed in GA alone include

-Making it crime to give food & water to voters in line

-Severely limiting mail ballot drop boxes

-Allows GOP legislature to appoint majority on state election board & suspend county election officials

-Allows unlimited challenges to voter eligibility

-Adds strict new ID requirement for mail ballots

-Gives voters less time to request mail ballots

-Prevents election officials from sending out mail ballot applications

-Bans mobile voting centers

-Requiring proof of citizenship

-Throws out most ballots cast in wrong precinct

-Prohibits election funding from nonprofit groups

-Makes it more difficult to extend voting hours when problems arise

-Cuts runoff elections to just 4 weeks after Dems won in Jan

-Removes Secretary of State as chair of state election board after he stood up to Trump

-Creates new voter fraud hotline run by Republican AG

A 43% increase since February, according to Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. 1 in 13 African Americans are deprived of their right to vote, a rate more than 4x greater than that of non-African Americans.

This is aside from efforts Republicans made during the 2020 election to actively suppress voters. Closing over 1,600 polling places in predominately black communities, purging hundreds of thousands voter registrations, planting fake ballot boxes, blocking late-arrival ballots, blocking online registration, blocking mail-in voting during the pandemic, gerrymandering, sabotaging the postal service, disenfranchising people with felony convictions, made plans to have the military seize voting machines, recruiting 50,000 “poll watchers” for intimidation, and nullifying the results.

Republican lawmakers have also proposed about 50 bills in 20 states that would restrict initiatives on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Republicans nationwide are legislatively targeting civil rights by advocating for qualified immunity and against voting rights, diversity, equity, inclusion, and education (CRT).

Qualified immunity is a court-created rule that limits victims of police violence and misconduct from holding officers accountable when they violate a person's constitutional rights.

Critical Race Theory is a “graduate level legal theory that began in the 1970s that attempted to understand why racism and inequality persisted after the civil rights movement. The core idea is that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something that is historically embedded in legal systems and policies”.

Targeting educators teaching history and science has become increasingly popular over the past year nationwide from conservative leaders and media outlets. The anti-CRT position largely denies the existence of institutional racism and makes the claim that such discussions about race related social problems are indoctrinating, “un-American” and teach racial moral superiority. White advocates against CRT argue that teaching history accurately will make their children feel guilty. While CRT is not currently taught in K-12 (despite claims from conservative leaders/outlets) principles acknowledging the existence of systemic racism and race related social problems potentially are and should be.

The position against CRT can only exist by altering reality and valuing white comfort over black lives. Sugarcoating our past encourages regression, history is an incredibly useful tool to help us navigate right and wrong. Reducing the cruelty of our past not only discredits those victim to it but hinders any attempt at growth. Erasing tragedy exempts those responsible and conditions our next generation to be apathetic and ignorant.

We need reform on systemic levels. Accountability from law enforcement, heavily increased training, demilitarization, substantial criminal justice and incarceration reform, equal opportunity, decriminalization and expungement for non-violent ma*****na related offenses, reparations, ending the death penalty, further black government representation, and the expansion of voting rights/accessibility. Investing in affordable housing, education, job training, substance-abuse treatment, and mental health counseling will reduce crime far more effectively than an inflated police budget.

If you are white, prioritize educating yourself about these issues and exercise compassion. Use your platform. Advocate for candidates and policy positions that value the interests of our African American brothers and sisters. It is incredibly easy to be oblivious to problems you aren’t directly subject to. Those choosing the path of passivity and indifference because you are not the target of policy are forwarding oppression no less than the greatest radical, regardless of your intent. It is equally imperative that we include principles of Critical Race Theory in our curriculum nationwide to remember and learn from the historical impact of systemic racism in our country so we never regress.

Conservative efforts to divorce themselves from reality at the expense of the marginalized/vulnerable while forwarding an agenda void of compassion and reason are dangerous regardless of claimed intent. Any advocate is either unfamiliar with the historical consequences of this direction or doesn’t care. We justify this moral ineptitude by blaming our willful ignorance fueled by entitlement, while targeting the very institutions we designed to encourage critical thought and solve it. Teachers and historically/scientifically accurate textbooks are not the problem. Our reluctance to conform to moral and social progress is.

Racial equity and moral progression can not be achieved without effort. To my white friends and relatives, you can’t claim to advocate for equity/equality if you choose deny the existence of these problems and assume a “colorblind” neutral position.

Apathy and ignorance are the greatest opponents of progression.

It is important to learn about the impact of policy, historical and otherwise. While it is easy to be oblivious to problems you are not directly subject to, that is not an excuse to be apathetic and willfully ignorant.

White fragility prevents progression.

Inaction is complicity.

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." -MLK

Did you know it is possible to spend under $1k at closing and become a homeowner by next month?

Buying a home is far easier than you think!

You can buy a home with no down payment and receive up to $15,000 in closing assistance!

For both first-time and move-up home buyers, the NC Home Advantage Mortgage™ provides qualified individuals with stable, fixed-rate mortgages and down payment assistance up to 3% of the loan amount. The Agency also offers an $15,000 down payment assistance option—the NC 1st Home Advantage Down Payment—just for first-time buyers and military veterans who meet additional eligibility criteria!

Repayment of all of the down payment options is required only if you sell, refinance or transfer your home before year 15—the down payment assistance is forgiven at 20% per year at the end of years 11–15, with complete forgiveness at the end of year 15!

Combined with a 0% down payment USDA loan you could potentially buy a home with little to nothing out of your pocket!

Contact me if you’re ready to buy your next home!

Cell: (919) 645-8643

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.homes.com/real-estate-agents/jacob-snow/g5qyxcw/

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Broker with Aimee Anderson & Associates (919) 274-9111