Fair Housing Segregation

To some, it can be argued that segregation was ended in 1954 so if housing is a problem, why don’t African American people just move. The issue is due to several programs that were created in the twentieth century that has held back minorities from homeownership. This lack of ability to be able to purchase and own a home on equal terms with white homeowner had a damaging effect of impacting

A large influx of colored people created many problems. First, there was a major problem in the availability in housing, of which was responded to with racism. This is the root for the hatred between the black and white communities. There wasn’t enough housing in the “black belt” community, so Negroes began to spill into white neighborhoods. The very existence of a colored person in a neighborhood would lower the property values. When a house was sold to a colored person, the rent for the house would be higher than the previous, white owner’s rent. Real Estate companies believed that “it is a matter of common knowledge that house after house…whether under white or black agents, comes to the Negro at an increased rental” (Sandburg 46). They sold housing despite the fact that “the Negro in Chicago, paid a lower wage than the white workman” (47), and that black people would have

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was brought into place when discrimination in the housing market became an apparent issue throughout the United States. While many African American and Hispanic men were risking their lives in the Vietnam War, their families back home were being denied rent and purchasing opportunities solely because of their race or ethnic background. Many others were also rejected

The racial undertones of Detroit have been extremely problematic to Detroit’s real estate market for well over 50 years. These social disruptions continue to have an effect on the current residents of Detroit. During the middle of the nineteenth century, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) introduced real estate tactics such as redlining, which is the practice of flagging minority dense neighborhoods for the purposes of denying approval of mortgages or inflating the price of the homes. Redlining had a profound social and economic effect on all residents of Detroit. The white majority began abandoning and selling their homes in fear that the value of the home would plummet, leading to a great financial loss when minorities moved in the area. This idea is known as white flight, and is the primary reason that Detroit has one of the highest African American populations in the country. However, through revitalization and gentrification of the Midtown/Downtown area, Detroit is slowly becoming more diverse. Throughout history, racial politics of the mid-to-late twentieth century affected Detroit 's real estate market by excluding minorities from the real estate market. Although adding stadiums, high end retail, small shops, and restaurants is economically valuable to the city of Detroit, this is conflicting and potentially problematic for the original residents of the area because the prices of these new establishments are often much higher than the residents can afford.

Despite increased diversity across the country, America’s neighborhoods remain highly segregated along racial and ethnic lines. Residential segregation, particularly between African-Americans and whites, persists in metropolitan areas where minorities make up a large share of the population. This paper will examine residential segregation imposed upon African-Americans and the enormous costs it bears. Furthermore, the role of government will be discussed as having an important role in carrying out efforts towards residential desegregation. By developing an understanding of residential segregation and its destructive effects, parallels may be drawn between efforts aimed at combating

In “The Complexities and Processes of Racial Housing discrimination” by Vincent J. Roscigno, Diana L. Karafin, and Griff tester, the main concept of racial disparity and inequality among neighborhoods is discussed, and how those inequalities became to be. They first highlight the wide range of potentially exclusionary practices, through qualitative and quantitative data comprised of over 750 verified housing discrimination cases (Roscigno, p. 162). Citing the U.S. Census, it is found that Blacks, compared to Hispanics and Asians, continue to experience high levels of residential segregation. This is done through discriminatory practices, whether they be by exclusionary or non-exclusionary methods. Even after the passing of the Fair Housing Act in 1988, discrimination against Blacks and Hispanics decreased somewhat, though African Americans still appeared to take part in racial steering, and Hispanics continued to have limitations in regards to opportunities and access to rental units (Roscigno, p. 163).

In order to support his opinion, the author uses historical references to the enormous impact of racial inequality on African American lives. Additionally, Desmond names a set of historical data and rates of the poor African Americans in cities to enhance the reader’s understanding of this complex situation. African Americans were also more likely to get the apartment with broken furniture, windows, and other facilities that confirmed the existence of racial inequality (Desmond, 2016, p.249). To reassert his position, Desmond provides offensive statistics that millions of people are evicted from American homes, and most of them are African American (Desmond, 2016, p.293). As a matter of fact, the author proves that housing discrimination based on race is the primary cause of

The readings for this week fall under the umbrella of “Issues in Housing Policy”, more specifically race, discrimination and segregation. Looking at this topic with the naked eye may lead one to conclude that these issues are age-old, but by looking at the occurrences within the housing policy we can very much conclude that these drawbacks still remain and are salient to the present. To begin, the Schwartz piece highlights that housing policies are mandated to condemn the discriminatory practices that plague real estate and mortgage markets, where African-Americans and other minorities are at a “decided disadvantage”. However, the federal laws passed, such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, prohibiting racial discrimination by real estate

One of the reasons they were “trapped” in neighborhoods was redlining. Bradford Hunt’s article reads, “Redlining is the practice of arbitrarily denying or limiting financial services to specific neighborhoods, generally because its residents are people of color or are poor.” The HOLC, Home Owner’s Loan Corporation, “color-coded” maps of the cities show the African American neighborhoods and white neighborhoods. This outline gave the redlined areas the impression of being an investment and insurance risky.

Housing discrimination a thing of the past? Many people would believe that housing discrimination doesn’t happen anymore. Housing discrimination still happens today and although it might not be as common, or spoken about it. Housing discrimination is anytime a minority is refused housing because of their race or ethnicity. Refusing housing doesn’t just mean an apartment or, house that someone wanted to buy, but influencing where someone lives entirely by steering them places most commonly, or denying loans. Housing discrimination can also occur after someone has already moved into their new place and the other residents of the complex or neighborhood could start harassing them. Housing discrimination also doesn’t just occur in one place in the country but, all over it. It can also surprise people who think they are moving into a forward thinking community to only find out that they are denied housing because, of how they look. Housing discrimination is no longer a thing of the past and needs to seriously looked at in today’s world and changed for the better. The history of housing discrimination starts all the way back during WWII, and begins to affect education and health of those affected. What most importantly needs to happen are reforms in how housing is sold and bought so that there is less human interaction in who makes decisions.

Ruetschlin stated, “Homeownership is the central vehicle Americans use to store wealth, so homeownership and access to homeownership are at the heat of that widening wealth gap”. The median house worth for blacks and Latinos is $48-$50,000; while the median house worth for whites is a whopping $85,800. Much of this disparity derives from the increasing gap in housing values located in neighborhoods where people of color live versus white neighborhoods. The roots of this issue go back to the National Housing Act of 1934, which marked entire black neighborhoods as bad credit risks. Being so, the act discouraged lending in these areas, even as black homebuyers continued to be excluded from white neighborhoods. (forbes.com) Although it was outlawed over thirty years later, its impact is still felt today as the continuation of residential segregation patterns persists. For example, just three years ago, Wells Fargo admitted to leering those of color into subprime mortgages all the while offering whites with similar credit profiles prime

With this intention, banks and real-estate agents will no longer be readily available in urban communities, but in suburban regions. The reasoning for this stem back to the overall goal of keeping African-Americans separate from whites. Now, however, without banks and real-estate agents, urban communities do not have the same privilege as someone from a suburban household. This is viewed through the concepts of social inequality and Eurocentrism because of the unwillingness of whites; there is an unequal distribution of prestige regarding African-American rights.

This caused many people of color to live in not so nice areas and settle for houses they really didn’t want to live

This act is mostly known as the Fair Housing Act. Congress made it a crime to use, or threaten to use force to interfere with housing rights because of the victim’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. President Johnson stated that “this bill had a long and stormy trip. We did not get it in 1966. We pleaded for it again in 1967. But Congress took no action that year. We asked for it again this year (1968). And now at long this afternoon (April 11, 1968) its day has come.”7 This Act was amended in 1988 that expanded the coverage of the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on disability or on family statuses such as a child under the age of 18 and pregnant women. It established new administrative enforcement mechanisms with Housing and Urban Development attorneys and revised and expanded the Department of Justice jurisdiction to sue on behalf of the victims in Federal

It was a way to constraint African Americans to areas that were far away from those with status, class, and power. Segregation led to discrimination in economic opportunities, housing, and education. The black culture has suffered from the barriers that were placed through segregation. However, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 tried to limit some of the discrimination associated with segregation. It was discovered that even a “rising economic status had little or no effect on the level of segregation that blacks experience” (Massey and Denton 87). The authors imply that “black segregation would remain a universal high” (Massey and Denton 88). The problem with the continuing causes in Segregation is that even though the Fair Housing act was placed, many realtors still discriminate against blacks “through a series of ruses, lies, and deceptions, makes it hard for them to learn about, inspect, rent, or purchase homes in white neighborhoods” (Massey and Denton 97). Segregation and discrimination have a cumulative effect over time. Massey and Denton argued that the “act of discrimination may be small and subtle, together they have a powerful cumulative effect in lowering the probability of black entry into white neighborhood” (98). William Julius Wilson had