Fair Housing…How are we doing?

By: Dennis Norman

Forty years ago Congress passed Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 known as “The Fair Housing Act“.  This act prohibits discrimination in public and private housing markets that is based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or familial status.

So how are we doing as a nation with regard to fair housing?  This is a question that affects a larger percentage of our population daily as the United States continues to grow in diversity  According to a press release issued earlier this year by the U.S. Census Bureau titled “An Older and More Diverse Nation by Mid-Century“ presently minorities make up roughly 1/3 of the US population.  The report continues by stating “(minorities) are expected to become the majority by 2042″.  In addition, the report states by 2030 “nearly one in five US residents is expected to be 65 and over”.

The National Commission on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity was established to address the state of fair housing.  This seven-member commission was co-chaired by the Honorable Jack Kemp and the Honorable Henry Cisneros, both former U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretaries.   The commission reported that the hearings they held “exposed the fact that despite strong legislation, past and ongoing discriminatory practices in the nation’s housing and lending markets continues to produce extreme levels of residential segregation that result in significant disparities between minority and non-minority households…”  the report went on to state “discrimination continues to be endemic, intertwined into the very fabric of our lives.  Ironically, even though more Americans than ever are living in diverse communities, residential segregation remains high……there are at least 4 million fair housing violations in our country every year.  That is far too many.” 

I personally found it shocking to hear how large the problem of discrimination in housing remains even today.  I was encouraged by the ideas the Commission came up with to address these issues and to advance the Fair Housing movement.  The recommendations include:

• Create an independent Fair Housing Enforcement agency – the report indicates this was the most consistent recommendation at the meeting.
• Revive the President’s Fair Housing Council - Established originally back in 1994 for the purpose to review the design and delivery of Federal programs and activities to ensure that they support a coordinated strategy to affirmatively further fair housing.  The reports states “The Fair Housing Council has been severely underutilized, and to our knowledge has only met once.”
• Ensure Compliance with the “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” Obligation - One of the basic principles in the Fair Housing Act requires HUD and other federal agencies engaged in housing and urban development and grantees they fund to take proactive steps to advance fair housing, not just to avoid discrimination. 
•  Strengthen the Fair Housing Initiatives Program-  This program was created in the late 1980′s to support and fund fair housing enforcement and education across the country but while the program has been effective, it’s success has been greatly impacted by funding constraints.  The commission recommends increasing funding for this program significantly.
• Ensure that Fair Housing Principles are emphasized in programs addressing the mortgage and financial crisis – The report states “it is critical that the solutions that have been proposed to address our current mortgage crisis comply with the mandate that all government housing and lending programs affirmatively promote fair housing..”
• Create a strong, Consistent, Fair Housing Education Campaign – The report recommends “HUD should us its direct budget authority to fund basic education and outreach materials, written in easy to understand language, in multiple languages and in accessible formats.”

While it is apparent that discrimination in housing is still a very large problem in our country it appears  The National Commission on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity has made some great strides toward a plan to address these issues.  Hopefully our leaders will do what needs to be done to put these recommendations in place to attack this problem. 

In closing, I realize there are many people out there fortunate enough to have never felt the effect of discrimination in housing, me being one.  However, just because we don’t feel it or we are not the ones doing it, doesn’t mean it isn’t our problem.  I’m reminded of a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that I think sums it up…”Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.  We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

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