Color Tax: Origins of the Modern Day Racial Wealth Gap

The Color Tax: Origins of the Modern Day Racial Wealth Gap, is Episode 3 of the five-part documentary series, Shame of Chicago. The Color Tax tells the story of how a system of predatory home contract sales during the 1950s and 60s plundered enormous sums of wealth from the pockets of black families seeking the American dream of homeownership. In a compelling narrative format, The Color Tax documents who peddled the contracts, how and why they were allowed to do it, and what happened when black families organized to fight back in one of Chicago’s most heart-wrenching and perilous campaigns for racial and economic justice.