Fair Housing Laws

In history, there are many recurring themes, one of the biggest is the “American Dream”. Many people resonate the words dream, freedom, equality, and the opportunity to achieve their utmost desired and achievable dreams. This definition of a perfect land that helps you achieve your dream has been termed the “American Dream.” The “American Dream”, which is supposedly available for all Americans, has unfortunately become untrue for those who are minorities or immigrants. The “American Dream” is dictated by the American society that is controlled by a racial hierarchy that does not give access to the American dream for those who are not part of the preferred race and who don’t fit into its structured box of singularity. Overall, The American

The U.S. has become a less discriminatory nation since the Holocaust. The United States Constitution’s Fifth and Fourteenth amendments restrict the state and federal governments to discriminate against the people. The Fifth amendment calls for the federal government to not take individual's “life, liberty, or property without due process of the law.” The fifth amendment also says that each individual will have equal protection under the law. The Fourteenth amendment forbids states to take away a citizen’s right to fair treatment and equal protection. Both of these amendments have changed America for the better since the

After the Civil War, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendment were added to our constitution in order to protect the civil rights of Americans. The thirteenth amendment ended slavery. The fourteenth tells us that all persons born here are natural citizens, as well as states the rights and protection of both citizens and non-citizens under the law. The fifteenth amendment protects a citizen’s right to vote. These were reinforced by the civil rights acts between 1865 and 1875. These acts allowed the President to enforce these acts with armed forces, criminal penalties to those who would interfere with the right to vote or any of these other rights, and penalties to those who would deny equal enjoyment to public accommodations. Unfortunately, many civil rights court cases, and barriers were put in place to undermine the legislation these amendments and acts were meant to create and the rights they were made to protect. This changed in 1954 when Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka stated that segregation of schools violates the equal protection act of the fourteenth amendment. This eventually led to several other civil rights movements during the 1950s and 60s. By this time, Congress was finally compelled to pass legislation to support the civil rights movement. This included the Civil rights act of 1964, which banned discrimination on the bases of color, race, religion, gender, and national origin. The Voting act of 1965, which outlawed tests discriminatory tests

Great post Caitlyn! I like how you pointed out the 5th amendment too. Both are for equal protection, but the 5th amendment focuses on the Federal Government, while the 14thamendment concentrates on the state governments. However, discrimination still may happen even though the sole purpose of the 14th and 5th amendment was to ensure equality. For instance, I don’t believe women are emphasized in that amendment, since it is mainly focused on race, ethnicity and religion. It is mentioned on multiple sources that in order for women to claim discrimination, one must have legal protection and sufficient evidence that is decidedly persuasive. The 14th amendment has helped women in the past, but realistically the amendment does not guarantee that

Civil rights were created to protect citizens from unjust treatment and ensure equality. Just like civil liberties, civil rights aren’t absolute. However it is not legal to do so, civil rights can be violated. For example, a black man is in a majority white community and is arrested by a white police officer. The black man did nothing wrong, but was still arrested. This black man’s civil rights were breached. This situation closely mirrors the Powell v. Alabama case. 3 Nine African American young men were falsely accused of raping two young white women in Scottsboro, Alabama. The deputies of Scottsboro coerced the young women into accusing the nine black males of rape. Only a few weeks later, eight out of the nine boys were sentenced to death, and the last sentenced to life imprisonment, with three one day trials. For the boys who received the death

Since the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act , there have been legal tools and policies that combat segregation in housing, overall, promoting more diverse cities. While the Fair Housing Act have been successful in diversifying formerly all white cities. A new problem is emerging for the people in the integrated neighborhoods: the return of the great whites. Soon there will be no home for these people. The mission district of San Francisco , soon will lose all its original dwellers to the high demands of the Bay Area. A neighborhood historically home to Central and South American immigrants are being overtaken by the new , improved population . As you stroll down the once taquerias, bakeries, bars and auto mechanic shops lined streets,

The United States Census Bureau reports that, in 2015, 13.5% of Americans lived below the poverty line (Proctor, Semega, & Kollar, 2016). The negative effects of poverty are well documented and can have a widespread effect on the lives of those individuals who are affected. They are more likely to experience income and food insecurity, chronic health conditions, and lower quality education than wealthier Americans (United States Government Accountability Office, 2007). Additionally, and more importantly to the purposes of this report, the poor are more likely to experience homelessness or live in inadequate housing. The National Alliance to End Homelessness (2016) estimates that over 500 thousand people were homeless on any given night in 2015. The federal government, recognizing this issue exists, has responded by allocating “50 billion in housing assistance specifically designated for low-income households” (CBO, p.1) in 2014, which was used to assist nearly five million households through various programs (CBPP, p.1). The housing voucher program, which accounted for the largest percentage, provides families with subsidized housing, while allowing them to choose where they live, provided the housing meets certain health and safety thresholds set by local public housing agencies (HUD, Housing Choice). Despite access to

Racial discrimination has been a major part of society since colonial times. During the Civil War in 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Even though it freed slaves in the South, they still ended up facing extreme hardships. In the following 2 to 7 years, the government stepped in and ratified the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment. These amendments were meant to guarantee freedom, establish and prevent discrimination to former slaves. Following those amendments, there was a lot of confusion about segregation until Homer Plessy decided to challenge it.

Any man, woman, or child that was born, or migrated to the United States has one goal in mind: to achieve the American Dream. The ideal was formed centuries ago by the Founding Fathers of this nation, who “promised that all men would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (King 600). A dream, mention by Martin Luther King in his “I Have a Dream” speech, stating that everyone regardless of age, color, gender, and any other differences, will have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity, and that these rights would be protected by the fair and just law of the United States. However, the American Dream is not readily available to minorities based on the ongoing acts of police brutality,

Civil rights and liberties play an important role in American society because they attempt to provide individuals with equal opportunities and treatment without discrimination, and the rights and freedoms they are entitled to. However, history shows that countless times that not everyone had equal rights and freedoms. The dilemma that our nation constantly faces is deciding which kinds of groups or peoples should have civil rights and liberties and in what conditions should they be revoked or given. Although it may seem obvious by now that all should deserve civil rights and liberties, there is still high tension and debate today on the issue of how much freedom, order, and equality are necessary and ethical in certain situations for certain

To begin, housing discrimination is discrimination based on protected class status, race, ethnicity and so much more in the realm of housing and real estate. It can lead to racial segregation and housing inequality. It began to occur in the United States after the abolition of slavery as part of federal law. In 1934 the Federal Housing Administration, also known as FHA was introduced and was possibly the most heinous of all

On Wednesday, October 11th a co-worker and I went to Washington Square to present the Assessment of Fair Housing AFH. We had a pretty small turnout, but everyone that attended seemed interested in the presentation and participated in the discussion afterwards. We asked if anyone had experienced any issues with fair housing in the past and if they were able to resolve it. One woman said, “I had an issue here and I have not been able to resolve it”. I asked her if she wanted to talk about it and she replied that she did not. A little later she leaned over to me and asked if she could talk to me after the presentation. I said yes of course and while we were packing up she was folding chairs as people left the meeting. One of the guys in

It is illegal to discriminate in housing based on a person’s race/color, national origin, gender, religion, disability, or because there are children in the household. Enforcement of fair housing laws requires sustained research and investigation of community-wide changes that could impact protected classes.

Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech in 1963 emphasized the idea that the founding of the United States entailed a promise of equality for all citizens. This, of course, would have been a very important idea in the mind of Dr. King and his followers as they sought to end racism in the United States, and gain civil liberties for blacks across the nation. Although that movement was turning point regarding civil liberties and racism in the United States, the work was certainly not finished. Since then, the battle for equality has continued and expanded to include much more than race. Today, the battle for equality encompasses race, gender, economic status, and many others. The writers of the Constitutional chose to include the belief that all men are created equal, and have rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Dr. King understood the founding of the United States, and therefore its Constitution, to be a promise of equality for all citizens. The questions are, how well has this promise been met, and how will the Supreme Court today impact this process? In order to answer this question, it is paramount to analyze Supreme Court decisions and federal laws regarding constitutional principles, civil liberties and equality, and representation and citizen participation. These decisions and laws reveal that although the promise of equality for all citizens was not met well for many years, it has improved with time, and will continue to improve under the

But to begin changing the nation the government first needed to create amendments and laws in order for them to remain fair and equal. Here are certain laws and amendments created that stop the government from having any sort of discrimination towards anyone. According to law.cornell.edu, the Fifth Amendment states that people should not “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”. (Staff 2009) In other words people cannot be deprived of their life, their liberty, or their property without a legal reason.