40 Acres and a Mule. Broken Promises, Black Wealth Inequality, Persistence of Housing Segregation and Exclusion, and How to Right (Some of) These Wrongs¹

Chinyere Agbai, Branden Butler, and Paula Pearlman

Chinyere Agbai is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at Brown University. Her research seeks to uncover the roots of the racial wealth gap in homeownership and examine their consequences for racial inequality in wealth and health. Her work is published in Social Science Research and RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, and it has been supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the NIH NICHD. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Branden Butler is the Assistant Deputy Director of Outreach and Education for the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). Prior to joining DFEH in 2019, Branden was the Senior Attorney of the Fair Housing Center of the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc.

Paula D. Pearlman opened her own law practice during the 2020 pandemic focusing on monitoring post-litigation settlements, providing expert witness testimony, and conducting investigations and mediations. Throughout her legal career, Pearlman has been an advocate, professor and litigator for civil rights, and is a recognized expert in disability rights.