WASHINGTON – Sen. Kamala Harris unveiled a $100 billion plan she would push for as president to increase black homeownership in the United States.

Harris, speaking Saturday at the 2019 Essence Festival in New Orleans, called home ownership “historically one of the most powerful drivers of wealth in our country.”

“So I will remove barriers that black Americans face when they go to qualify for a home loan,” Harris told the crowd. “And I’ll invest through the federal government $100 billion to put homeownership within the reach for those who live in redlined communities. And it would help four million families with down payments and closing costs.”

The $100 billion would go toward US Housing and Urban Development grants to provide up to $25,000 in assistance for down payments and closing costs on principal residences.

Recipients of the grants would have to qualify financially and have lived in a historically red-lined community for the preceding 10 years, Harris’ campaign site said.

Red-lining was a practice in which black neighborhoods were marked in red and designated as “hazardous” by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, making it harder for residents to get mortgages and buy homes in those areas.

Harris also plans to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act so that rent payments, as well as cell phone and utility payments, go toward an individual’s credit score.

Credit scores are currently based on credit cards, student loans, auto loans and mortgage payment – types of credit that low-income Americans don’t necessarily have.

At the Essence Festival, the California Democrat said her plan could “shrink the wealth gap between black and white households by at least one-third.”

At the top of her remarks she said that a typical black family has just $10 of wealth for every $100 in wealth a white family has.

“By taking these challenges on we can close that gap and that not only lifts up black Americans, it lifts up all of America,” Harris said.