The New York Times article "Homeownership Drop is Bad News, but Not for the Reason You Think" describes the drop in American homeownership in 2016. The homeownership rate hit "the lowest rate in more than 50 years". The article also discusses inflated mortgage and renting rates, and describes the reason for these statistics to be that salaries and employment rates have not recovered since the recession. The article also points out that the greatest drop in homeownership occurred amongst African Americans.

Juxtaposing this article with Parting Ways, it is clear that the methods in which homeownership occurs have drastically changed since the 1800s. Cato Howe and his fellow neighbors simply purchased a plot of land, built homes, and began to farm the land. Another thing to compare is the fact that about 200 years later, African Americans are still finding a struggle to own homes and to find success in the U.S.

Citation: Baker, Dean. "Homeownership Drop Is Bad News, but Not for the Reason You Think." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 2 Aug. 2016. Web. 14 Sept. 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/08/02/homeownership-at-50-year-low-so-what/homeownership-drop-is-bad-news-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think.

In the article entitled "American Must Equalize Access to Homeownership and Its Wealth Opportunities", Carlene Crowell explains how mortgage and loan rates for African Americans and other minorities and American are statistically unfair in the United States. This fact inevitably prevents minorities from purchasing homes in this country, and Crowell points this out. She describes that despite the fact that many African American families seeking to own homes are wealthy compared to the average, they are given unfair mortgage rates and difficult loan rates. She says "discriminatory lending practices during the recent era of subprime loans erased many of the financial gains that Black and Brown families made since the enactment of the Community Reinvestment Act. Instead, these consumers were targeted for predatory, unsustainable loans". Comparing this very modern situation to Cato's, the ability of African Americans to own their own. nice home is still a difficult feat. Financial discrimination is still able to leak through the cracks of equality laws.

Citation: Crowell, Charlene. "America Must Equalize Access to Homeownership and Its Wealth Opportunities By Charlene Crowell." Trice Edney Wire. Trice Edney Communications, 6 Aug. 2016. Web. 15 Sept. 2016. http://www.triceedneywire.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7013%3Aamerica-must-equalize-access-to-homeownership-and-its-wealth-opportunities-by-charlene-crowell&catid=54%3Aurban-news-features&Itemid=208.

It is interesting to compare the situation of Cato Howe to the situation of wealthy African American families today. Cato Howe was able to build a home, a community, and to have surviving wealth. Even an African American man in the 1800s, before slavery was abolished, was able to own property and a home. Today, African Americans find it extremely difficult to afford the rates at which homes are sold to them. This makes it difficult for wealthy black families to continue their wealth to their kin, and to grow their wealth. Owning a home is seen as a necessary factor in the American Dream. What if black families are given mortgage rates out of the roof, and cannot afford to own a home? Have they been effectively excused from the "American Dream"? Whether intentionally or unintentionally, African Americans are still experiencing financial oppression that is causing their lack of growth and impression in the community.

The "John Alden foundation" is the only house the pilgrims from the Mayflower lived in that is still standing today.

http://www.arthritis.org/about-arthritis/types/rheumatism/"Rheumatism." Rheumatism. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2016. I was not sure if there was a difference between arthritis and rheumatism. Turns out, rheumatism is just a very general term for joint pain.

Why didn't black residents name their communities unique names, such as Parting Ways? Instead they used a common name: one used by numerous other black communities.

Is this referring to an actual Spider? If so, why? I find this very strange.

The square space of a home would drastically change the lifestyle of the residents. It could show details of how they lived, how crammed they were, and other important factors of living.

Architectural details of homes provide so much insight into the culture and lifestyles of different peoples. Here we have blacks literally using their home layout as a way of defining their culture. It may seem like an obvious fact that different types of people live in different types of buildings, but what is the significance of this? Could breaking down this idea really help understand and describe certain lifestyles?

This is exactly like what we discussed in our perspectives class: how certain cultures respect private space more and others respect public space. The fact that these African American families built their houses so close together despite their immense space shows their respect for each other and their lack of desire for a privatized life.

I think this is extremely important for the entire article, because the writer picks apart very specific details about the area piece by piece, but the point of the article is to explain the significance of the archaeology behind the area, and how it explains African American history better than documents can.