Land redistribution is a firm part of America’s past and it’s present. This country was, after all, founded on the mistreatment of Native Americans; in the mid-1900s, over 100 native tribes lost their recognition by the federal government and were made subject to state jurisdiction—they were encouraged to move to urban centers, which didn’t make life any easier.
They, and many other minorities, were and are subject to poverty and housing discrimination.
The Fair Housing Act defines what housing inequality by stating what acts of related discrimination it defends against.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Fair Housing Act prohibits the denial of renting/buying a home, getting assistance for housing, etc. because of disability, color, race, national origin, sex, gender, and/or religion.
You’d think that this being set in stone would stop people from discriminating for fear of being taken to court, but a law being in place has never and will never stop people from breaking it.
And when minorities are able to secure housing, they’re likely to be ignored when reporting issues with their homes. A paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research reported that residents with white names received a response from their landlords 60% of the time, where black or latino names garnered a 54%-57% response rate.
This, in turn, makes minority residents more likely to move out and less likely to move in. And whiter neighborhoods are more valued—more resources are put into keeping the neighborhood looking nice and keeping the residents satisfied.
Racism in cases like this is structural: something put in place to divide the haves from the have-nots and keep “less desirable” people squarely in the latter category. People often pin the problems associated with “slum” areas on the people living there, but the truth is much more systemic.
This is clearly a very important topic, particularly now and during the last two years when housing prices drastically increased and it became harder and harder to find a place to live. Owning a house is one of the biggest investments that a person can have and by being barred from that ability, many minorities lack the generational wealth and stability presented by not being allowed to participate. I like that you brought this up, because this type of racism isn’t always obvious, and nor does it just suddenly happen, like you said, it’s systematic.