Following the video presentation, special guest presenter DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond will share how national policies highlighted in the video impacted the Atlanta region.

How did decades of misbegotten policy, attitudes, and actions create concentrated poverty, cripple transportation policy, and diminish public infrastructure? How do actions taken during Reconstruction and the era of Jim Crow continue to shape our city and region today?

How did these policies impact economic opportunity for communities of color? At the core of the wealth gap between Black and White households is wealth created through homeownership and passed on to the next generation. Black families were denied equal access to these homeownership opportunities decade after decade – resulting in a homeownership gap of 30% and only 10% of the average wealth compared to White families.