The Unfulfilled Promise of the Fair Housing Act - Detailed Study Notes

Context of King's Work: Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream for an integrated America aimed at creating a more equitable society. However, many white homeowners perceived this dream as a threat to their communities.
Chicago Demonstration: On August 31, 1966, King participated in a Chicago Freedom Movement march advocating against real estate discrimination toward black residents in predominantly white neighborhoods.
- Counter-Protest Violence: A violent reaction ensued from a white mob chanting threats against King, escalating to physical attacks where rocks and bottles were thrown.
- King's Reaction: King remarked on the unprecedented hostility he experienced in Chicago compared to previous demonstrations in the South, shedding light on the pervasive issue of de facto segregation in Northern cities.

Federal Government's Role in Segregation: Prior to the civil rights movement, both federal and local policies reinforced segregation, including:
- Federal Housing Administration (FHA): Created disparities by incentivizing developers to build whites-only suburbs.
- Public Works Administration: Funded separate and unequal housing projects for black and white populations.
De Facto vs. De Jure Segregation (After 1950s):
- De Facto Segregation: Continued existence of segregation without legal backing, manifesting in systemic racial and wealth inequalities.
- De Jure Segregation: Legally sanctioned segregation (through ghettos) deemed unconstitutional via various Supreme Court rulings in the mid-20th century.

Integration Resistance: The persistence of resistance to integration is deeply rooted, manifesting across political spectrum dynamics among whites because of wanting to ensure the prosperity of White Americans, even if this is at the cost of everyone else.
- Wealth Preservation: White homeowners typically resist desegregation due to fears surrounding property value depreciation, linked to a belief that white wealth is intertwined with black poverty.
Delayed Housing Policy Changes: The Trump administration's delay in enforcing an Obama-era rule encouraging metro areas to desegregate demonstrates a continuation of historical discriminatory housing practices.

Civil Rights Act of 1968: Established the Fair Housing Act following King's assassination and subsequent riots, aimed at combating racial discrimination in housing.
- Ensuring Fair Housing: The Act included a requirement that was not maintained for the government to actively foster an integrated society, a component that has been historically neglected.
  - The lack of integration caused resegregation in Los Angeles, California.

Creation of Slums: King identified slums as a product of governmental policy creating systemic inequalities akin to colonialism.
Federal Housing Administration's Practices: During the 1930s, the FHA engaged in redlining, labeling neighborhoods based on perceived financial risk, which disproportionately affected black communities.
- Underwriting Manual Quotes: Included instructions on maintaining neighborhood segregation, highlighting discriminatory practices.
- Highways were built to separate and further segregate the residential areas, and the FHA refused to provide a loan for homes adjacent to a Black neighborhood unless a wall was built.
Blockbusting: A practice where realtors instigated panic selling and subsequently resold homes at inflated prices to black families, further diversifying residential areas against homeowners' will.
- When African Americans moved into white neighborhoods, the property values actually increased because they were willing to pay a higher price for housing as their supply was restricted.
- But what actually decreased the property value was when white homeowners sold their properties at a very low price.

Homeowners' Control Perception: There persists a belief among homeowners that neighborhoods lose value as black residents move in, contributing to race-based exclusionary practices.
- Cultural Impact: Such perceptions reflect historical misgivings about racial integration and its economic implications.
Wealth Gap: Statistics reveal vast disparities in wealth, with white families' median net worth being almost ten times higher than that of black families, attributed, in part, to discriminatory housing policies enforced by the FHA.

Political Backlash Against Housing Initiatives: Ideologies like those of Nixon's administration halted integrative measures from federal policies.
- Richard Nixon's Opposition to Integration (Romney’s Program - Open Communities): He expressed the belief that forced integration conflicted with natural social ordering, which echoes contemporary resistance to fair housing initiatives.
- Mit Romney wanted to eliminate the HUD because it only held federal funding from jurisdictions for violating the Fair Housing Act twice.
Conclusion Regarding Government Action: There exists a stark need for proactive government engagement to rectify historical injustices in housing policy rather than leaving it to assumptions that the market will self-correct.
- Call to Action: Significant change cannot be anticipated through passive policies but requires active government intervention to realize King's vision of an integrated society. This is because the government is responsible for creating the slums (these places of poverty).
Ben Carson, the current Secretary of HUD, believes that the Obama administration’s Affirmatively Further Fair Housing Act is a case of “social engineering”, but it is not worse than segregation.

Arlington Heights Case Study: This suburban area of Chicago upheld exclusionary zoning practices, highlighting systemic racism under the guise of economic elitism (the first reason was the refusal to build multi-family units, and it was justified because of the proximity to a single-family neighborhood and was unfit).
- Continued Resistance to Integration: The prevalent undervaluing of neighborhoods with black residents demonstrates a persistent legacy of racial prejudice in housing policies.

Enduring Fight Against Segregation: Despite King’s efforts and vision for fair housing facing ongoing challenges, the legal frameworks established continue to serve as a basis for ongoing civil rights struggles.
Unfinished Business: King’s intentions for a more integrated society signify that the fight for fair housing is far from over, as depicted by the ongoing resistance and systemic inequalities in contemporary America.