02/14/2025
What Does the Black Community Need?
In 1865, 20 Black leaders met with General William T. Sherman and answered this question with one word: Land.
At the time, Black Americans couldn’t own land. Enslaved people had been free labor for 246 years, driving a $3 billion industry—valued at $83 billion today (2018.)
To address this, Special Order No. 15 promised ”40 acres and a mule” - 400,000 acres set aside as reparations.
But they never got their land.
President Andrew Johnson overturned the decision, returning the land to former enslavers. Meanwhile, 2/3 of American wealth is built through home equity - wealth that Black Americans were denied.
This is why the racial wealth gap persists today.
We know:
⏳ Generational wealth builds over time.
📈 Property appreciates over time.
🏡 Equity grows over time.
We can’t change history, but we can create equal opportunities for real estate investment and ownership.
Next, I’ll break down the “wealth gap” - why it exists and how we can close it.