Whitewashing: the rewritten past of a home

Twelve years ago, Jillian White packed away childhood memories and family photos into large brown moving boxes in her parents’ home as they prepared to sell the house. Her goal: to remove any existence that her Black family ever lived there.

This process in home sales is commonly referred to as “whitewashing,” when families of color neutralize their home to show that a white family could have lived there. All of this is done in the hopes of selling the house at a higher price.

“At the time, there was zero pushback, because our expectation kind of as a family was that these workarounds were normal,” said White.

White, a home appraiser herself, understood the practice and its benefits, but throughout the process, she found herself struggling with what the practice meant for her family. During the packing, she came across a photo of her baby brother.

“I got this lump in my throat and my eyes filled up with tears,” White said. “Because at that moment, I was like, what would I say to him if he were to catch me erasing all evidence of his existence from his home?”

But she kept packing. And White didn’t unpack those emotions until years later. In 2023, White founded Appraisal Insights, a business focused on educating non-appraisers on the industry and the racial and ethnic bias that has cemented itself within the industry.

And while White isn’t quite sure on whether she would ‘whitewash’ a home again, she makes it clear that practices like this shouldn’t be the norm.

“I think it’s a travesty that black and brown families are put in this position where they either have to choose between their dignity or a financial benefit,” White said.

To hear more of White’s story, click the media player above.