Special screening of 'Our America: Lowballed' held in Washington

WASHINGTON -- There was a special screening in Washington on Thursday of the ABC documentary "Our America: Lowballed."

The Brookings Institution and the National Fair Housing Alliance hosted the event, which was attended by Rep. Maxine Walters and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge.

The documentary takes a closer look at racial bias in the home appraisal process and shares experiences from Black families whose home values jumped as much as $500,000 after they so-called whitewashed their homes.

That involved replacing items to make it appear that a white family lived in their home instead.

"This has been yet another signal to Black and brown communities that our systems do not see us as equals, think about what that does to a person, think about how it would feel for you to have to remove everything in your home so that it could be sold," Fudge said.

After the screening, speakers discussed racial bias in the home appraisal process, the effects on majority-Black neighborhoods and what reforms and rules can be implemented at the federal level.

HUD said it is making changes to help people who believe they have experienced appraisal bias.

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