Fair Housing History
The Racial History of Housing Discrimination and its Continued Effects in 2022
The following are excerpts from "The Racial History of Housing Discrimination and its Continued Effects in 2022" by Cree Long, who was the Fair Share Housing Center (New Jersey) Communications and Development Intern and former intern at the Center, and posted on the website of the Judge Alexander Williams Jr. Center for Education, Justice & Ethics at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Center can be contacted at the University of Maryland, Seneca Building, 4716 Pontiac Street, Suite 0104, College Park, MD 20740.
This article was written in April, 2022, marking the end of National Fair Housing Month.
The Mount Laurel Doctrine, the series of Supreme Court decisions that prohibits economic discrimination by municipalities in exercising their land use powers, prioritizes space for affordable housing. The Doctrine fights against towns in New Jersey that used zoning as a tool to further exclude and oppress communities of color. Despite the extraordinary progress we’ve made in addressing exclusionary zoning in the nearly fifty years since we were founded, there is still much more work to do. Discriminatory policies of the past continue to perpetuate recurring, detrimental harms on communities of color, even today. Not only were these policies rooted in racism, but every level of government, especially in New Jersey, supported these mandates– making it impossible for Black and Brown families to generate wealth and live peacefully...
Perhaps the most notable of these is redlining. The practice of redlining was created through the Home Owners’ Loan Coalition’s residential security mapping system, which was used to monitor mortgage default between residents. Outlined in red on the map were Black communities representing “detrimental influences.” Though the idea of redlining began during slavery, its longevity has resulted in discrimination in housing and land ownership based on race throughout the country. Especially with New Jersey’s history of redlining and segregation, it was nearly impossible for Black and Brown residents to ask for financial assistance, buy property, and of course, refinance.
Amid the continued turmoil around housing discrimination for Black residents, the Fair Housing Act (FHA) of 1968 was passed by Congress and was intended to provide equal housing opportunities for residents of every race, background, religion, and ethnicity. Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated for fair housing among Black people by eliminating discrimination and promoting Black homeownership. Martin Luther King was assassinated just a week after the Fair Housing Act was passed. And despite the law, discrimination in housing policies made it difficult for Black people to obtain wealth especially through homeownership, no matter their income. Still today, Black people are often rejected for loans, discouraged from buying homes, and are subjected to live in neighborhoods with poor schooling systems, food deserts, lack of public transportation, and environmental issues...
Due to our flawed policies and the vast racial wealth gap, Black and Brown people have struggled to achieve and generate wealth...
References:
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. (2020). Erasing New Jersey’s Red Lines: Reducing the Racial Wealth Gap Through Homeownership and Investment in Communities of Color. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/njisj/pages/689/attachments/original/1588…NewJersey’sRedLines_Final.pdf?1588358478
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. (n.d.). History of Fair Housing. https://www.hud.gov/programoffices/fairhousingequalopp/aboutfheo/history
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. (2020). Black and Brown in New Jersey: The Garden State’s Shameful Racial Wealth Gap. https://www.njisj.org/blackandbrowninnj
