$9.99 with 50 percent savings
Digital List Price: $19.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Sold by Amazon.com Services LLC.
Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Beryl Satter
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America Kindle Edition

by Beryl Satter (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 59 ratings
A landmark investigation of segregation and urban decay in Chicago: “The most important book yet written on the black freedom struggle in the urban North.” —David Garrow, The Washington Post)

Named One of the Top Ten Books of 2009 by The New York Times and The Washington Post

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award

Winner of the OAH Liberty Legacy Foundation Award

The “promised land” for thousands of Southern blacks, postwar Chicago quickly became the most segregated city in the North, the site of the nation’s worst ghettos and the target of Martin Luther King Jr.’s first campaign beyond the South. In this powerful book, Beryl Satter identifies the true causes of the city’s black slums and the ruin of urban neighborhoods throughout the country: not, as some have argued, black pathology, the culture of poverty, or white flight, but a widespread and institutionalized system of legal and financial exploitation.

In Satter’s riveting account of a city in crisis, unscrupulous lawyers, slumlords, and speculators are pitched against religious reformers, community organizers, and an impassioned attorney who launched a crusade against the profiteers—the author’s father, Mark J. Satter. At the heart of the struggle stand the black migrants who, having left the South with its legacy of sharecropping, suddenly find themselves caught in a new kind of debt peonage. Satter shows the interlocking forces at work in their oppression: the discriminatory practices of the banking industry; the federal policies that created the country’s shameful “dual housing market”; the economic anxieties that fueled white violence; and the tempting profits to be made by preying on the city’s most vulnerable population.
Read more
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    787 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Metropolitan Books
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    March 2, 2010
  6. File size
    16.7 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
Next slide of product details
Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is rich material… Satter balances personal stories, including moments of great bravery, with painstaking legal and historical research. Family Properties is transfixing from the first sentence. The pleasures here are deep and resonate ones… an instant classic.”
—Dwight Garner, The New York Times “Satter’s painstaking thorough portrayal of the human costs of financial racism is the most important book yet written on the black freedom struggle in the urban North. Family Properties is a superbly revealing and often gripping book.”
—David Garrow, The Washington Post “Beryl Satter has taken the hard road to glory in her study of race and housing discrimination in Chicago during the 1950s and ‘60s. Yet somehow she has managed to stay on course, using her considerable investigative skills and unwavering sense of fairness to write a revealing and instructive book… A cautionary tale of government complicity, Family Properties follows the social historian’s dictum of “asking big questions in small places.” It reminds us that history and memory are essential tools for anyone pondering our current predicament.”
—The New York Times Book Review “This sweeping chronicle of greed and racism combines a noble and tragic family history with a painful account of big city segregation and courageous acts of community resistance. In riveting stories and thoughtful analysis, Satter powerfully discloses how manipulation and abuse shattered lives and deepened urban inequality.”
—Ira Katznelson, author of When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold Story of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America “Beryl Satter brings Chicago’s West Side to life in this vivid history of a neighborhood f...

About the Author

Beryl Satter is the author of Each Mind a Kingdom and the chair of the Department of History at Rutgers University in Newark. She was raised in Chicago, Skokie, and Evanston, Illinois, and is a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School and the Yale American Studies program. For her work in progress on Family Properties, Satter received a J. Anthony Lukas citation. She lives in New York City.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003EI2EKE
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Metropolitan Books
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 2, 2010
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 16.7 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 787 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1429952606
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 59 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Beryl Satter

Beryl Satter

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
59 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find the book wonderfully researched, with one review highlighting how the author mixes personal stories with clear analysis. Moreover, the writing style receives positive feedback, with customers describing it as well-written.

Select to learn more

Research qualityReadability
10 customers mention "Research quality"10 positive0 negative

Customers praise the research quality of the book, with one customer noting how it effectively combines personal stories with clear analysis, while another highlights its compelling historical analysis.

"Well written and researched for anyone interested in Urban Studies and Housing and the influences internally and policy related in their decline...." Read more

"This was an interesting book that provides great insight on the struggles of Chicago's minority/impoverished citizens access to housing...." Read more

"...real estate speculation since the 1950s, mixing personal stories with crystal clear analysis of the larger forces shaping our lives...." Read more

"...Satter has done an outstanding job researching her story not only by piecing together the paper trail, but by interviewing surviving contract..." Read more

5 customers mention "Readability"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well written and easy to read, with one customer describing it as a must-read.

"Well written and researched for anyone interested in Urban Studies and Housing and the influences internally and policy related in their decline...." Read more

"...of characters, but on the whole it's a wonderfully researched and thoughtful book...." Read more

"...Its combination of richly researched detail and beautifully crafted writing delighted me on every page. It is a pleasure that will make you smarter." Read more

"Eloquently and informatively, Beryl Satter relays the gripping story of how modern Chicago neighborhoods came to be...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • V. M. Ricks
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Investigation
    Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2013
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    This book tells the compelling story of buying a house in Chicago, circa 1950s forward. The governmental institutions, real estate speculators, banks had a recognized and plausible prey -- migrating black people (and later Hispanics) seeking to be included into the American dream. They are pushed into a corner and given one option. I had relatives caught in that trap who endured, made the sacrifices and eventually bought the house. They had the simplest of desires. They wanted to prove that they too could own a house in Chicago. People say that black folks have no delayed gratification, but this says just the opposite. Not only did people have money saved, but they handed saved money to real estate speculators who overpriced them. This was after they had tried the more established banks, savings and loans, the legitimate and recognized sources. They worked two or more jobs for decades to make the additional installment payments with a gun to their head: miss one payment and you are out. Moreover, make all the repairs and maintenance are you are out. These people deserve our respect and our admiration.

    Thank you for telling their story. Satter's father and family story is a bonus. All wanted and deserved a better system for inclusion. The lost court battle and the series of reforms ultimately set the stage for 2008's housing bubble. Once again, we are told, the bankers were seeking a way to include more poor people. Installment contracts and sub-prime mortgages represent two bookends that the government and the banks devise to steal the money of hard working citizens. We need more of these type investigations. We need fewer products designed just to help working class citizens. If the rules and instruments work for the rich, let's just use them, un-modified, to work for the poor. That's one moral from this tragic tale.
    5 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Carol
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Analysis
    Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2022
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Well written and researched for anyone interested in Urban Studies and Housing and the influences internally and policy related in their decline. I found it easy to read in a historical family true story. The author was believable and analysis fascinating.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Conor
    4.0 out of 5 stars interesting expose on Chicago history
    Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2014
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    This was an interesting book that provides great insight on the struggles of Chicago's minority/impoverished citizens access to housing. The structure of juxtaposing the denial of these citizens access to the "easy money" that the government was setting out to try and encourage home ownership. At times the book can be a little hard to follow given the jump arounds and multitudes of characters, but on the whole it's a wonderfully researched and thoughtful book.

    I would have liked to see more discussion of the impact of the history and it's relation to the modern subprime mortgage crisis. The author touched on it but I would have liked a bit more discussion on that as that is a complex historical connection. Starting that conversation and simply concluding it was a teaser into the area.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Chris Wilson-Simpkins
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
    Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2016
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    If you live indoors, or ever wanted to, read this book. Did you ever wonder why housing in America is so segregated? Did you ever think that the subprime mortgage crisis couldn't have been caused by a sudden rash of "irresponsible borrowers"? This warm and humane book lays bare some of the forces that have driven residential real estate speculation since the 1950s, mixing personal stories with crystal clear analysis of the larger forces shaping our lives. Its combination of richly researched detail and beautifully crafted writing delighted me on every page. It is a pleasure that will make you smarter.
    2 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • tobaksa
    5.0 out of 5 stars and there is no happy ending. Satter has done an outstanding job researching ...
    Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2015
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I am from Chicago, and think I know a fair amount of Chicago history, but much of this was new to me. The author's father was an attorney who worked himself to death fighting the racist housing system that became the template other cities used. There are many reasons for the decline of America's cities, but this book documents a key piece of the puzzle. The details are shocking, and there is no happy ending. Satter has done an outstanding job researching her story not only by piecing together the paper trail, but by interviewing surviving contract buyers and sellers, lenders and lawyers, and community activists. For those interested in American history mid-century, and America's racial and urban problems, this book is a "must read."
    7 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Simeon Simeonov
    4.0 out of 5 stars A compelling historical analysis
    Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2017
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    This is a well-researched and well-argued book. The author convincingly situates a microhistory of Chicago's South Side real estate market within a broader history of the negotiation of racial relations in the Civil Rights Era. Satter demonstrates that a variety of agents, from state representatives to university administrators and real estate agents championed various regulations and practices that effectively discriminated against an aspiring set of working- and middle-class African Americans migrating from the post-WWII South. These regulations and practices, Satter contends, were one of the main factors militating against the creation of a racially diverse and inclusive middle class in a period of rapid economic growth. However, since Satter is the daughter of one of the actors in this fascinating history - a fact she introduces in the beginning of her book - her interpretation of some of the historical evidence can seem biased and arbitrary.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Michael
    5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for any Chicagoan
    Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2013
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Eloquently and informatively, Beryl Satter relays the gripping story of how modern Chicago neighborhoods came to be. This book is a fascinating look into how greed and prejudice shaped the neighborhoods of Chicago's West and South Sides. It's also a family history of a courageous, ahead-of-his time Progressive who gave his life fighting for the equality he thought everyone deserved. The still-present segregation and inequality of opportunity throughout the city is placed in context with the history detailed in this book.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report