Vanessa Raymond-Garcia, RHLS Policy Analyst, is focusing on racial equity and its intersection with issues of housing and community development. Through the RHLS blog, Vanessa will highlight issues of critical importance as we move forward in our journey to provide affordable, stable, and healthy housing to every Pennsylvanian.
During his campaign, President Biden declared housing as a “right, not a privilege” and made a promise to build stronger, healthier communities in every zip code, especially those hit hardest by systemic housing discrimination and disinvestment. The exacerbation of housing inequities experienced across the U.S. under the COVID-19 pandemic are a direct result of generations worth of racially discriminatory policies not just in housing, but in many areas of policymaking. More must be done to keep people safely and affordably housed as a matter of public health, moral imperative, and economic security for the future of the country.
As a first step towards achieving this goal, the President signed a package of executive orders and memorandums during his first days in office to reaffirm the Fair Housing Act. These include, but are not limited to: requiring an examination of the previous Administration’s regulatory actions that undermined Fair Housing Act protections (including the changes made to the Disparate Impact and Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rules) and actions by HUD following the analysis to fully enact the Fair Housing Act; halting discrimination in housing on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation; and establishing a data working group to measure and evaluate federal equity efforts. Additionally, the President is urging Congress to enact his proposed $1.9 trillion relief package that would provide much-needed relief to struggling households, but without targeting those most harmed during the pandemic crisis, the U.S. will continue the legacy of continuing to exclude populations made vulnerable by bad public policy.
As Richard Rothstein highlighted in his groundbreaking book titled The Color of Law, the Fair Housing Act has been a vital tool to help combat segregation in the U.S., but it alone will not repair the damage wrought on generations of Black and other non-white communities. If we have learned anything so far, it is that complex issues require a multifaceted response. In this moment, the Biden administration, with assistance from state and local jurisdictions, is being called to approach this once-in-a-lifetime moment with robust, all-encompassing solutions that specifically target those historically left behind – namely, Black and brown communities, immigrants, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and more.
These groups are not mutually exclusive either and therefore, the solutions being considered cannot be seen through a single-issue lens. Those working in the public interest can do more to uphold and extend the country’s constitutional and moral requirements as they are being called to do. In addition, the U.S., at all levels, must address the fact that “race-neutral” policies often maintain racial inequities. Researchers have shown significant racial inequities in areas ranging from minimum wage laws, environmental protections, healthcare, and robust worker protections and enforcement mechanisms.
Here in the Commonwealth, RHLS is committed to working more closely with local communities to amplify their calls for action and enacting solutions to relieve the affordable housing emergency, with a priority of racial equity. We at RHLS support the effort to preserve and restore the mandates of the Fair Housing Act and urge people working in the public interest to enact bold policy solutions that target those made most vulnerable. We also urge elected officials at every level of government to ensure renters and homeowners, again targeting those made most vulnerable, are protected during this especially defenseless moment in history.