Pascrell Pushes Carson on Fair Housing Discrimination Enforcement
Pascrell Pushes Carson on Fair Housing Discrimination Enforcement
PATERSON, NJ – Today, U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) sent a letter to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson seeking clarification to a report that found HUD is slow-walking or halting entirely efforts to combat housing discrimination against minority Americans.
“I read with grave concern a recent New York Times article detailing the ways in which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is de-emphasizing enforcement of fair housing laws and actively seeking to undo the efforts of your predecessors to combat discrimination,” Rep. Pascrell writes. “In interviews with current and former members of your staff, the article finds that HUD is systematically ‘sidelining officials who have aggressively pursued civil rights cases,’ with a half-dozen priority fair housing investigations being halted.”
Begun in the 1930s, the practice of redlining blocked minorities from access to mortgages and financial services, keeping generations of families from enjoying home ownership. The government tacitly supported these racist schemes as maps were used by the Veterans Administration and Federal Housing Administration to determine who should qualify for home loans. Redlined maps thus became self-fulfilling prophecies, keeping generations of minorities mired in poverty.
“Racial disparities persist in the United States because of past failures of policy and imagination, and their lasting legacy is a shameful stain on this nation,” Rep. Pascrell writes “Now is not the time to turn backward, but I fear that your decisions as HUD Secretary are doing just that. I ask for an immediate explanation and course correction from your office.”
The full text of the letter to Secretary Carson follows:
Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D.
Secretary
Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street S.W.
Washington, DC 20410
Secretary
Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street S.W.
Washington, DC 20410
Dear Dr. Carson:
I read with grave concern a recent New York Times[1] article detailing the ways in which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is de-emphasizing enforcement of fair housing laws and actively seeking to undo the efforts of your predecessors to combat discrimination. If true, this pattern of action is unacceptable.
I read with grave concern a recent New York Times[1] article detailing the ways in which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is de-emphasizing enforcement of fair housing laws and actively seeking to undo the efforts of your predecessors to combat discrimination. If true, this pattern of action is unacceptable.
In interviews with current and former members of your staff, the article finds that HUD is systematically “sidelining officials who have aggressively pursued civil rights cases,” with a half-dozen priority fair housing investigations being halted. The piece also notes that the head of HUD’s division of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity has indicated she will not initiate any new cases against high-profile discrimination. These actions follow the decision by congressional Republicans to roll back rules meant to combat racial discrimination by mortgage lenders – rules passed after the 2008 financial crisis that saw predatory lending targeted toward racial minorities explode.[2]
In addition, in testimony before the Senate two weeks ago, you detailed plans to stop an Obama Administration rule intended to help streamline the integration of racially-divided neighborhoods. These actions coincide with your decision to no longer use the words “inclusive” and “free from discrimination” in the Department’s mission statement, criticism of which you purportedly dismissed as “nonsense.”[3]
Regrettably, it appears you need to be informed of the history of government-sponsored housing discrimination and racism that continues to keep minorities – and African Americans in particular – from achieving the American Dream. I remind you that it is HUD’s duty to correct this dark legacy.
Owning a home that can appreciate in value has long been the primary driver of building wealth in the United States. But the 1930s practice of redlining, or carving out neighborhoods by race to exclude minorities from access to mortgages and financial services, blocked generations of families from enjoying home ownership. The government was part and parcel to these racist schemes as initial maps were sanctioned by the federally-sponsored Home Owner’s Loan Corporation. They were subsequently used by the Veterans Administration and Federal Housing Administration to determine who should qualify for home loans. Redlined maps thus became self-fulfilling prophecies, keeping generations of minorities mired in poverty.
Economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago recently analyzed data from redlined maps from the 1930s and discovered that the consequences of that heritage of inequality persist to the present day.[4] The economists found that differences in racial segregation, homeownership rates, home values, and credit scores still fall along the same boundaries. This comes on the heels of recent analysis that found that black males of all backgrounds in America are less likely to end up affluent than their white counterparts.[5] And the homeownership gap between black and white Americans has changed very little in the last century, while the racial wealth gap has widened.[6]
The constitutional guarantee to equal opportunity under the law compels the government to correct and counteract for its previous discriminatory policies. Fair housing laws like the 1968 Fair Housing Act were put in place specifically in response to the institutionalized discrimination created by redlining. HUD is tasked with enforcing these laws, yet under your leadership the Department has shown an unwillingness to carry out your legal and moral responsibilities.
Racial disparities persist in the United States because of past failures of policy and imagination, and their lasting legacy is a shameful stain on this nation. Now is not the time to turn backward, but I fear that your decisions as HUD Secretary are doing just that. I ask for an immediate explanation and course correction from your office.
Any Secretary of Housing and Urban Development must understand and be committed to correcting the history of discriminatory housing policies in the United States. Any Secretary lacking that commitment should not hold the title and should step down.
Sincerely,
Bill Pascrell, Jr.
Member of Congress
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