Thomas Wilson Mitchell is a property law scholar. | John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Property law scholar Thomas W. Mitchell, who was a 2020 recipient of a MacArthur genius fellowship for his work looking at how black and other disadvantaged Americans have been deprived of their real estate wealth, says black farmers alone have lost millions of acres of land and at least $250 billion in wealth over the last century due to “historic discrimination.”
Mitchell shared the data during a virtual session hosted by Habitat for Humanity Friday to mark the 35th anniversary of the federal observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, reflecting on King’s vision of “the Beloved Community” a community that includes diversity and allows for tension undergirded by love and leads to transformation.