Beryl Satter, author of the acclaimed book Family Properties, does it again. Cash on the Block is a masterpiece that, for decades to come, will be essential reading for scholars, policymakers, and anyone who wants to understand the economic exploitation of Black Americans. With extraordinary archival depth and analytic clarity, Satter reveals how ostensibly race-neutral laws, financial instruments, and bureaucratic incentives systematically extracted wealth from Black urban communities. The result is one of the most incisive accounts of why reinvestment efforts have repeatedly failed—and what genuine equity would require.—Bernadette Atuahene, author of Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America

A riveting read and a compelling account of how public-private partnerships have led to the divestment of wealth from Black urban neighborhoods. Masterfully weaving together the political philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, and Charles V. Hamilton, Beryl Satter highlights the significance of Black activists and community organizers in solving today’s most intractable problems.—Dorothy A. Brown, author of The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans—and How We Can Fix It

What happens when government outsources the revival of impoverished neighborhoods to private profit-seeking lenders? Predation, plunder, and extraction of wealth from already struggling families, as Beryl Satter shows in this searing, wise, and haunting history. Just as importantly, Satter explains how the savvier reinvestment strategy first proposed by Black thinkers and then elaborated by interracial community organizers in the 1970s could still work in our time—with greater power and stronger political will.—Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America

A devastating and revelatory history of institutional racism in America. Balancing incisive analysis with her gift for storytelling, Beryl Satter boldly recounts how self-serving government and corporate programs have perpetuated Black disadvantage and deepened inequality in the past—and how they continue to do so today. This is a history that shatters myths, speaks fearlessly to the urgent concerns of the present, and provides the clarity that we need to find a new way forward.—Andrew W. Kahrl, author of The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America