When the media report about South Carolina’s Sixth Congressional District they often quote statistics that reflect poorly on the district and its residents. However, there are many positive statistics that should also be publicized about my district.  For instance, this district leads those of all my Congressional Black Caucus colleagues’ in the number of blacks who own their own homes. 

            Sixty-two percent of African Americans in the Sixth District are homeowners.  Only one other CBC member’s district even reaches a black homeownership rate of 60%.  I am proud of this distinction, but I am not naïve enough to be content with it.  Although homeownership is widespread in the black communities of my district, there is no indication of the quality of these homes.  Many African Americans own family homesteads that have been passed down through the generations, and many of these structures are in rural area without adequate infrastructure and are in dire need of repair or renovations. 

There is a new means, by which these families can create a new homestead, and by which others can become homeowners. 

            The Congressional Black Caucus has initiated an effort to insure that homeownership is a reality for more African Americans.  Named “With Ownership, Wealth” or WOW, the program has set a goal of an additional one million black homeowners by the year 2005.  This will be achieved through a special partnership between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-sponsored mortgage giants, and local banks, mortgage companies and community groups.

            The WOW program will offer new mortgages with special terms for those with low incomes or poor credit histories.  Banks and lenders will offer a variety of these mortgages, which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have agreed to purchase.  Special terms include: down payments of as little as $1,000 or 2% of a home’s value, interest rates below the usual rates offered to poor credit risks, a one-time reduction in interest rates for borrowers who make their mortgage payments on time for two consecutive years, and allowing down payments to come from grants or unsecured loans from community groups, government agencies or employer-assisted housing programs. 

            When the CBC launched this initiative research revealed that the nationwide homeownership rate was 67%.  73% of white families own their own homes, but only 47% of African Americans are homeowners.  Obviously, the Sixth District numbers are a bit different with 75% of whites owning a home compared to the 62% for African Americans. 

            The title of the program, “With Ownership, Wealth,” defines the real purpose of this initiative.  For many Americans irrespective of any race, ethnicity or gender, the main source of wealth is their home.  By empowering people who are unable to purchase a home through conventional methods to buy their slice of the American dream, we are providing them an avenue to financial and personal stability.  We are creating tangible wealth that can be passed on to their children.  We are engendering the pride and commitment that comes with ownership.  WOW is a means through which we can turn around all of the negative statistics that reporters love to dwell on in South Carolina’s Sixth District and nationwide.  Now that is a story worth telling.

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