The Story of the Contract Buyers League

In the 1960s, Clyde Green fought the corrupt contracts that robbed black people of their homes in Chicago.

When Clyde Ross, Mattie Lewis, and Ethel Weatherspoon settled in the West-side neighborhood of North Lawndale, they hoped to achieve the American dream of owning a home.

At the time, however, federal policies known as redlining prevented blacks from getting real mortgages, forcing them to buy from real-estate speculators “on contract.” The contracts, homeowners soon discovered, turned out to be a scam.

In this short documentary, Ross, Lewis, Weatherspoon, and a community organizer named Jack Macnamara recount the story of how they formed the Contract Buyers League and fought back.