Introduction
In the United States, housing discrimination refers to historical as well as present policies and biases that act as barriers towards equitable access to housing. It became more prominent after slavery was abolished in 1865. It was among the provision of the Jim Crow laws that promoted and fostered racial segregation. In 1917, the federal government sought to reverse the situation when the Supreme Court, in Buchanan v. Warley, rejected decrees stopping African Americans from owning or occupying buildings in primarily white-inhabited areas. Nevertheless, all levels of government continued to be the reason behind housing discrimination by allowing race-restricted covenants and redlining until 1968. The Civil Rights Act of that year included a law called the Fair Housing Act which made it illicit for a property owner to discriminate against or only accept tenants according to the color of the skin, religion, national origin, or their gender.
Such protections have as been extended to other protected groups which include familial status and disabilities. In spite of the efforts, research shows that housing discrimination remains and that the phenomenon has caused educational, health, and wealth disparities. Its prevalence in the United States has resulted in various effects upon different aspects of the societal structure, for example, educational and housing inequality. These are visible via the lens of critical race ideology as instances of systemic racism. Ethnic as well as racial minorities are the most affected when it comes to housing discrimination. Exclusionary discrimination against black people majority of the times happens in sales and rental markets. This paper examines the idea of housing discrimination in the U.S. by looking at some of the sources on the topic.
Unequal Accessibility to Socially Significant Objects
Individuals usually forget that most African Americans, Latino as well as Native American learners, as late as the 60s, were educated in entirely isolated institutions. Aranda (2019) claims that existence of housing discrimination can be seen through unequal accessibility to socially significant objects, for example, schools. These were financed at a rate that was lower in contrast to others where white students studied. The end of the lawful segregation alongside the efforts to equalize spending since 1970 has created a great difference for student accomplishment. On all major national tests which include the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the divide in white as well as minority students’ scores narrowed significantly between the 70s and 90s (Aranda, 2019). This is particularly for the elementary school students (Aranda, 2019). On the SAT or otherwise, Scholastic Aptitude Test, the scores of black learners rose fifty-four points between 1976 and 1994 whereas those of their white counterparts maintained stability.
Educational experiences, even so, for African American students have continued to be greatly unequal and separate. More than half of them still go to institutions that are predominantly black, located in central areas and financed ridiculously below those in other suburban districts. Even within the urban areas, schools having many students from minority and low-income families, get less resources than others (Aranda, 2019). Tracking systems worsen the disparities by isolating many of such learners within educational institutions. Together, the policies leave them with lower-quality and fewer curriculum materials, books, laboratories, and computers. Additionally, they are left with larger class sizes, less experienced and qualified teachers, and less access to great-quality curriculum (Aranda, 2019). Many of the schools attending to black students do not provide science or math subjects required for admission into college which ensures that less minorities will enter into higher education.
Housing Discrimination Against Former Convicts
Housing discrimination happens in different ways including property owners, landlords as well as real estate agents offering fewer chances for particular classes to view available units and giving them less data about specific residences. Even after the point of rental, discrimination can lead to insufficient maintenance for rental units, disparate implementation of residential regulations, and harassment from neighbors or managers (Evans et al., 2019). Since a property owner can consider numerous factors concerning a potential tenant, it could be hard to prove that there is discrimination according to someone’s criminal history. Whether they are unaware of the policies, unintentionally neglecting them or utilizing discretion to choose the ideal tenant, statements from managers with respect to criminal background checks imply that they do not follow the guidelines.
In recent times, there have been no federal protections against discrimination for former convicts and no policies for how owners can utilize criminal background checks. The Supreme Court has confirmed that a landlord has the power to evict a tenant they think is involved in crime. This is whether it happens on or of the establishment (Evans et al., 2019). It appears that the judicial system of the country has been complicit in adding to the burdens of the felon label. The Department of Housing as well as Urban Development policies have aimed to address the issue. They prohibit owners from utilizing a practice that limits access to housing on the foundations of criminal history.
When attempting to secure housing, former convicts as well encounter challenges that stem from the landlords and management’s practices when establishing who to offer rental accommodation. The latter may consider various factors before reaching a decision of renting to a potential tenant which consist of income, employment, rental history, credit as well as criminal history (Evans et al., 2019). Majority of them carry out background checks on people which has led to increased difficulty of renting for formerly convicted individuals. They often need verification of prior housing references and employment, which most people out of jail lack.
People with a criminal record encounter denial of housing at many locations in the event they inform about their criminal history. In case they do not reveal this piece of information due to fear of not getting accommodation, they are at risk of being disqualified if the potential landlords discover (Evans et al., 2019). Additionally, these individuals face the likelihood of property owners succumbing to fears of angry neighbors and complaints or lawful actions trying to force a sex offender tenant to vacate.
Discrimination in Appraisals
Firms that value homes for refinancing or sale are bound by the law not to use discrimination. However, despite this, the African American homeowners claim that it happens. Race as well as housing policy have for a long time been interconnected in the U.S. African Americans struggle consistently more than white people in attempts of seeking approval for home loans (Kamin, 2020). Redlining continues to lower the value of homes in neighborhood predominantly considered black. This is a practice whereby people of color are denied mortgages in particular areas. Even in white neighborhoods, black owners claim that their properties are constantly appraised for much less than those of their neighbors.
A home appraiser is bound by the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to not be discriminative according to religion, race, gender or national origin. They can lose their licensure or even serve time in jail in case they are discovered to discriminate. Eleventh title of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, binds them to a standard of unbiased performance and ethics (Kamin, 2020). By nature, an appraisal is subjective which can lead to someone discriminating against another. Discrimination especially the subconscious microaggressions and biases that have emerged to the front among white people is hard to pinpoint. A Court decision permitted appraisals for homes that were on sale to be conducted remotely in particular situations.
Effects of Housing Discrimination on African Americans
The Fair Housing Act’s poor implementation has resulted in a major toll on the welfare of African Americans in the United States. The Act was established to enable every individual, regardless of their race, to live in a non-segregated neighborhood. The inadequate application or utilization of the provision as well as decimation of using a rule to foster fair housing in the entire nation have led to black people lacking equal access. For example, to food and medical care, and schools (Lederer & McCracken, 2021). Research done on the topic discovered that African Americans disproportionately are treated at facilities with the lower-quality technological resources (Lederer & McCracken, 2021). Additionally, they attend hospitals with the least experienced clinicians who are as well the most poorly trained medics. Some of the reports reveal that racial residential discrimination is a basic cause of disparities in the sector between Blacks and Whites. Differences in socioeconomic status between them including education and employment, impact the health as well as their ability to create wealth.
For majority of the people, the equity that a home produces, is their lone wealth-building tool to be utilized to finance old age or as inheritance for the generations to come. Nevertheless, the chance to use the tool is not available to African American homeowners in a similar manner as it is to their white counterparts. Houses in black neighborhoods fail to appraise for an equal amount as those in white areas. By not appraising for that amount, they miss on gaining the extra affluence. The loss continues to spread the racial wealth gap (Lederer & McCracken, 2021). The Fair Housing Act’s purpose is stopping the affluence disparity by eliminating discrimination. It is up to every person to guarantee that all citizens have access to housing on equitable and fair terms.
Discrimination in Mortgage Lending
Studies have been conducted to examine discrimination in both housing and mortgage lending against the minority which include African Americans, Latino and Asians. It is important as well to understand how it changed in the last forty years since the 70s (Quillian et al., 2020). There are drops in majority of the forms, particularly the most extreme such as falsely claiming a promotion unit is not available anymore. There is less decrease as well as considerable persisting discrimination in more subtle differences in treatment between minorities and Whites.
For instance, in around ten percent of audits whereby a White and a Blac auditor were asked to apply for one unit after 2005, the latter was recommended more than the former. Such trends appear as well in both the large Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded housing audits, which others have scrutinized with similar discoveries and in smaller correspondence researches (Quillian et al., 2020). In mortgage markets, it was found that racial divides in loan denial have dropped only slightly and the gaps in cost of mortgage have not shown any decline which suggests that racial discrimination still persists. Black as well as Hispanic borrowers are less likely to be approved when they apply for a loan and more chance of getting high-costs in mortgages.
Discrimination in Home Appreciation
Racial disparities and segregation in home appreciation have placed African Americans at a point of disadvantage in their capability to create equity as well as accumulate wealth. 2021 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act and Kerner Report release (Zonta, 2019). Spurred by color-associated unrest that emerged in more than one hundred cities in the United States between 1965 and 1968, the report denounced the barriers to economic equality afflicting black people (Zonta, 2019). It pointed to the role of white supremacy as well as the pervasive discrimination against and segregation of African Americans in employment, education, and housing in the building of two communities (Zonta, 2019). The Act was designed to remove the overt disparities in the market and eventually change the situation.
Particularly, it banned discrimination in rental or sale of a house, funding of housing as well as provision of brokerage services according to someone’s inclusion in a protected group. In spite of the political and economic gains that black people have accomplished since its passage, major disparities still exist in accessing quality education, homeownership, employment and other assets. These can be reflected in the persistent residential segregation and a racially segmented market. They have implications for the minorities’ economic mobility (Zonta, 2019). All the issues, for example, failure to access credit and constant devaluation of houses in African American neighborhoods, together constrict the capacity to create equity.
Conclusion
The paper has examined the idea of housing discrimination in the United States by looking at six sources on the topic. In the U.S., this refers to historical as well as present policies and biases that act as barriers towards equitable access to housing. After abolishment of slavery in 1865, this phenomenon became more pronounced as most white Americans wanted to continue having power over black people. In efforts by the federal government to change the situation, the Supreme Court, in 1917, rejected decrees stopping Blacks from owning or occupying buildings in white-inhabited areas.
Nevertheless, all levels of government stood as the main drivers of the issue of housing discrimination by allowing race-restricted covenants and redlining until 1968. The Civil Rights Act of that year included a law called the Fair Housing Act which made it illicit for a property owner to discriminate against or only accept tenants according to the color of the skin, religion, national origin, or their gender. In the paper, it is obvious that this can happen in various forms which include denial of access to hospital or schools.
Even though the country has made strides towards establishing equality, there are still cases of discrimination in housing. The effects as well continue to be felt as less African Americans are able to create wealth in the same manner or speed as their white counterparts. It is important that the local, state and federal governments find ways that effectively solves the matter in all areas of the nation. Landlords and property managers need to be held accountable for how they vet their prospective tenants.
References
Aranda, C. (2019). Housing Discrimination in America: Lessons from the Last Decade of Paired-Testing Research: Testimony before the House Appropriations THUD Subcommittee. Policycommons.net, 46(2).
Evans, D. N., Blount-Hill, K. L., & Cubellis, M. A. (2019). Examining housing discrimination across race, gender and felony history. Housing Studies, 34(5), 761-778.
Kamin, D. (2020). Black homeowners face discrimination in appraisals. The New York Times. Web.
Lederer, A., & McCracken, T. (2021). The Many Effects of Housing Discrimination on African Americans.
Quillian, L., Lee, J. J., & Honoré, B. (2020). Racial discrimination in the US housing and mortgage lending markets: Quantitative review of trends, 1976–2016. Race and Social Problems, 12(1), 13-28.
Zonta, M. (2019). Racial Disparities in Home Appreciation. Center for American Progress.