GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Ask Galen and Alice Henderson about their dream home, and the couple doesn't skip a beat.
There would be a finished basement, they say. A two-car garage. A big backyard. And three bedrooms so their children - Zahir, 8, and Jamyah, 13 - don't have to share one.
Nothing too fancy, they say, just a place to call their own.
"Right now, we're in a two-bedroom," Galen Henderson said, describing the duplex his family rents on Old Valley Court SE in Kentwood. "We're stepping on each other's toes."
Homeownership is a touchstone of the American dream. It's seen as a stepping stone to the middle class, helping families build wealth and stability. It strengthens neighborhoods.
But for the Hendersons, who are black, it's a goal that remains out of reach.