Rantz: Why celebrate a racist home loans program that only benefited a handful of Washington residents?

Washington State’s new Covenant Homeownership Program has been in effect for just over a month, offering an advantage of home ownership based purely on race. It is a classic example of the misguided, feel-good policies that perpetuate division rather than solve the problems they claim to address. Indeed, this is nothing more than a racist home loans program.

On the surface, the Covenant Homeownership Program, which offers zero-interest loans to individuals from “historically marginalized communities,” might seem like a noble attempt to right the wrongs of past discrimination. It earned celebratory media coverage this month and earlier in the year. However, when you dig deeper, it becomes clear that this initiative is more about virtue signaling and less about fostering genuine equality. Under the eligibility guidelines, a loan recipient doesn’t even have to establish they or their family have been the victims of discrimination. It’s their race alone that deems them a victim of oppression, a common belief amongst progressives.

The program gives up to $150,000 in zero-interest loans for down payments and closing costs to first-time homebuyers who can trace their ancestry to people who lived in Washington before 1968 and belong to a specified marginalized racial group. You must be either black, Hispanic, Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Korean or Asian Indian. Though Jews were subject to restrictive covenants, Democrats in the state legislature did not deem them worthy of access to their housing loan program. Jews are considered privileged white people by the Radical Left.

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What is the racist home loan program supposed to do?

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission, which handles administration for the Covenant Homeownership Program, claims the loans will help bridge the wealth gap created by discriminatory housing practices of the past. But is this really the solution, or is it just another layer of racial preference that excludes people based solely on the color of their skin?

One of the most troubling aspects of this program is its assumption that people today are victims of racism simply because their ancestors might have been. The idea that one’s eligibility for financial assistance should be tied to their race is as racist as the policies they claim made it less likely for these loan applicants to afford a home to begin with. It perpetuates the notion that people are defined by their racial background rather than their individual circumstances; that a poor white or Jewish family is still better off than a wealthy black or Hispanic family.

This program divides us further rather than bringing us together, creating resentment for those in need who are left out because they’re not from a demographic Democrats can exploit for political power. It’s no wonder why Democrats are struggling, especially nationally, amongst low-income working white families.

You don’t even have to show you’re the victim of racism

The program doesn’t require applicants to demonstrate that they’ve personally suffered from discrimination; their race is enough to qualify them. This not only undermines the principle of individual responsibility but also disregards the many non-minority families who have struggled to achieve homeownership due to financial hardships unrelated to race. By focusing solely on race, the Covenant Homeownership Program ignores the complex socio-economic factors that affect all potential homebuyers, regardless of their racial background.

Moreover, the criteria for eligibility are shockingly exclusionary.

If you’re a white family that’s struggled for generations to make ends meet in Battle Ground or Sultan, too bad. The program’s benefits are explicitly not for you. This is a program designed to benefit some at the expense of others based purely on the color of their skin—a notion that runs counter to the ideals of equality and fairness that should guide public policy.

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What’s the actual impact of the racist home loans program?

According to the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, which operates the program, only 19 applicants had the loans closed (including 16 black and one Hispanic applicants). In a state with millions of residents, this hardly seems like a sweeping success. If the goal was to make a substantial impact on homeownership disparities, this program is clearly not the answer. Instead, it’s an expensive exercise in virtue signaling that will help a select few while doing little to address the broader issues at play.

There’s also a glaring problem with the racist home loans program. It makes it easier for a family to buy a home it can’t afford and benefits people who can afford a home without the interest-free loan.

Under the program, an applicant is eligible if they make up to the Area Median Income (AMI) of the county they’re purchasing a home in. If a household makes a combined $65,000 in King County (AMI $147,400), and has little in savings, it likely doesn’t make sense to purchase a home yet. If the household makes $147,000 and has a healthy savings account, they likely don’t even need the assistance, even if they’d like to have it (who wouldn’t?).

The program is also incredibly expensive. Each loan is worth up to $150,000, and while it’s interest-free, it still needs to be repaid eventually. But who’s footing the bill in the meantime? Washington taxpayers, many of whom will never qualify for this assistance because they don’t meet the program’s racial criteria. This is a redistribution of wealth based on race, plain and simple, and it’s both unfair and unsustainable.

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Home loans program based on racism to address past racism we assume impacted wealth

The justification for this racist home loans program rests on the idea that past discrimination has left minority groups without the generational wealth to buy homes today. While it’s true that discriminatory practices in the past have had lasting effects on some, it’s not fact for all. Generational wealth is also not mandatory for home ownership. And a solution should not be to create new forms of racial discrimination in the present.

Instead, we should focus on policies that help all low-income families, regardless of race, to achieve homeownership. Programs that offer financial education, credit counseling, and, to the extent necessary, assistance with down payments should be available to anyone who needs them, not just those who belong to a specific racial group that the politicians in power need to placate in order to stay in power.

Washington’s Covenant Homeownership Program is a misguided attempt to address historical wrongs through present-day racial preferences. In 50 years, will we need another program to undo the injustices this current program creates? True equality comes from treating everyone with fairness and respect, not by doling out benefits based on the color of one’s skin.

Washington State should rethink this program and instead focus on initiatives that help all families, regardless of race, achieve the American Dream of homeownership (I will admit that it’s at least refreshing that this program makes it harder for the Radical Left to claim home ownership is steeped in “white supremacy culture.”) The path to equality is not through exclusion, but through inclusivity (that other buzzword progressives love to throw around) that uplifts everyone.

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